The Temperate and the Intemperate (detail), miniature from Valerius Maximus, The Memorable Deeds and Sayings of the Romans, Bruges, Master of the Dresden Prayer Book, about 1475–80. The J. Paul Getty Museum
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: Food in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
GETTY CENTER
North Pavilion, Plaza Level
The cultivation, preparation, and consumption of food formed a framework for daily labor and leisure in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Illuminated manuscripts offer images of the chores that produced sustenance, cooking techniques, popular dishes, grand feasts, and diners of different social classes. Food had powerful symbolic meaning in Christian devotional practice as well as in biblical stories and saintly miracles, where it nourished both the body and the soul.
