|
This depiction of a peasant eating pasta captures a curious sub-genre of Neapolitan culture. As meat prices rose in the 17th century, pasta became less expensive and provided a more affordable alternative. Maccheroni (as all types of Neapolitan pasta were then termed) was sold by street vendors and often cooked in a meat broth, giving much-needed sustenance to peasants, who traditionally ate it with their hands. So-called mangiamaccherroni (macaroni-eaters) became a familiar spectacle in the streets of Naples, so much so that in the 18th and 19th centuries, tourists would pay for plate of hot pasta in order to watch peasants scoop it with their hands and swallow it whole.
From the 16th century, these mangiamaccheroni became a popular subject in Neapolitan painting, at times used as a humorous personifications of "taste" in representations of the five senses. Luca Giordano painted a number of mangiamaccheroni including one in the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton and another in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
|
