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This depiction of a peasant boy 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.
The small boy in the present painting, however, instantly recalls one of the young urchins in Bartolomé Estaban Murillo's iconic Two Boys Eating Pie and Boys Eating Grapes and Melon, both in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. The boys' poses are very similar, with right arm raised, head tilted upward and eyes fixed on the next mouthful, pinched between finger and thumb. This impish pasta-eater probably pre-dates the painting by Murillo. Given the distinct likeness of the respective figures, it is possible that Murillo used the present figure as a model for the boys in the Munich pictures.
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