Since ancient times, man has used resinous substances for lighting and the pressing of woodland berries and animal and vegetable fats as a means of illuminating the darkness. As of the 4th century, olive oil was used for lighting. Oil lamps reached Rome via Magna Grecia (that area of southern Italy colonized by the Greeks…
People in the eastern Mediterranean have been grinding olives for oil for the last 6,000-8,000 years. and wild olives, which originated in Asia Minor, were collected by Neolithic people as early as the 8th millennium B.C. The oldest testament of olive cultivation was found in Palestine (Bronze Age, 3500 B.C.): a couple of olive pits and charred olive wood…
For my October 31st ZOOM talk (my twelfth!), olives and olive oil in Italy’s art, history, cuisine, medicine, folklore – and not only! – will take the stage. I’ve decided to write a few blog notes prior as an introduction. Let’s get started. Since ancient times, a symbol of peace, wisdom, prosperity, fertility, and victory,…
Standing proudly like a stately sentinel, a medieval tower welcomes you to Spello, ancient olive trees sprouting out of the top of the tower. What better welcome to la Citta’ dell’Olio? Even the roundabout you’ll pass before entering Spello encircles and ancient olive tree. And as you stroll Spello, you’ll see shops selling that “Umbria gold,”….…
Logicamente, lustre maiolica wine goblets, flasks, plates with the wine and Bacchus motif figured in my October 20, 2020 ZOOM presentation, “Italy’s Wine Mystique in History and Art.” But my “wine motif” subject was vast and the lustre ware in Umbria and the Marches truly merits exclusive attention, even – a talk on its own. (If…
Although now nearly extinct in the wild, grapes (vitis vinifera) grew throughout the Mediterranean world and in Italy, grapes were cultivated both in northern and central Italy by the Etruscans and in the south (Magna Grecia) by the Greeks. The grapevines often intertwined in trellises as in this Roman mosaic of Cherchell, Algeria (3rd- 4th-c. A.D.): In…
My October 17, 2020 ZOOM presentation, “Italy’s Wine Mystique in History and Art” included – logicamente! – an exploration of the cult of the Roman god Bacchus, so often depicted in triumph as in the 3rd-c. A.D. Roman mosaic of Setif, Algeria (see above). Wine flourished in the Greek and Roman worlds with the Greek Dionysius…
I hadn’t seen Giuseppa in many months, for I haven’t been guiding visitors through the wonders of Umbria in many months due to global travel restrictions. Perugia/Deruta was always a much loved tour – and lunch at the farmhouse near Deruta of Paolo and Giuseppa was a highlight of that day. We’d often have a taste…
The mystique of wine originates in pre-historic times as the fruit of the vitis vinifera – the Euro-asiatic grapevine cultivated in all continents except the Antarctic – was first turned into wine in about 8500 BC. Probably accidentally. wine is endowed with strong significances, threading through the history of ancient peoples – even prior to…
For my upcoming ZOOM presentation (October 10th) on the art and cultural history of wine from pre-Roman times to the present, I wanted to include a vineyard visit in the Montefalco area where one of Umbria’s coveted indigenous grapes, il sagrantino is cultivated. The maiolica cups with the grape motif in Luca’s Assisi store launched…