Apples of gold in settings of silver : stories of dinner as a work of art / Carolin C. Young.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Young, Carolin C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dinners and dining--History.

Dinners and dining.

History.

Physical Description:

xvi, 364 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Simon & Schuster, [2002]

Summary:

"Eating is biological," said Carolin Young in an interview with Food & Wine magazine. "Dining is everything beyond that. It's what makes us human." Lavishly illustrated throughout, Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver is a celebration of this philosophy, where the universal impulse to dine elegantly is on exquisite display. In these rich pages, banqueting ascends to the ultimate work of art, engaging all five senses.

In thrilling detail, the book travels through ten centuries of European history to tell the stories of twelve legendary dinner parties. These tales have pageantry to spare -- from the lofty ritual of Catholic feast days at Cluny Abbey to the pleasurable voyeurism of Casanova's soupers intimes, seduction dinners, to the food antics of the twentieth-century Surrealists. After all, it is at the table that human beings enact the theater of their lives.

"Dining isn't just about food," Young told New York magazine. "It's about the architecture, the ambience, the silver, the porcelain, the people." Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver extends the gracious invitation to meet some of Europe's most fascinating personalities, to sample the food and the music, the wardrobe and etiquette that marked such infamous occasions as Titian's nature-worshipping picnics, Talleyrand's foreign-affairs soirees, and the entertainments of the Vienna Secession, inspired by the time-honored adage, "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." In the telling emerge such important developments in the history of dining as the European discovery of porcelain-making techniques, the introduction of the fork, and the arrival of turkeys from the New World. The book presents a voluptuous intermingling of some of the greatest art, music, and theater ever produced at the table. These dozen stories are each a distinct example of how banqueting nurtures our spirits as well as our bodies.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Dining with God: Peter the Venerable and the Monks at Cluny, Burgundy, A.D. 1132 2

Chapter 2 Friendship: Marsilio Ficino and the Neoplatonists, Villa Careggi, Florence, 7 November 1468 18

Chapter 3 Fete Champetre: A Feast of the Gods with Titian, Sansovino, and the Divine Aretino, Venice, 1 August 1540 40

Chapter 4 Cementing a Bond: The Wedding Banquet of Maria de' Medici and Henri IV, Florence, 5 October 1600 64

Chapter 5 Taking Office: The Coronation of Charles I, London, 2 February 1626 88

Chapter 6 Showing Off: Nicolas Fouquet Impresses the King, Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte, France, 17 August 1661 112

Chapter 7 Insatiable Gluttony: Count Heinrich von Bruhl Dines Alone, Dresden, Mid-Eighteenth Century 138

Chapter 8 Seduction: Casanova's Souper Intime, Venice, November 1753 162

Chapter 9 Diplomacy: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord at Table, Paris, Early Nineteenth Century 190

Chapter 10 Family: Bernard Shaw's Sunday Supper with William Morris and Family, London, July 1884 226

Chapter 11 Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, for Tomorrow We Die: The Secession Banquet, Vienna, 19 January 1900 250

Chapter 12 Shocking the World: Caresse Crosby's Surrealist Picnic, The Moulin de Soleil, Forest of Ermenonville, Early July 1932 272.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-356).

Includes discography: pages 357-358.

ISBN:

0743222024

OCLC:

50123550