Eleventh International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Using art historical methodologies, this paper examines the edible, sculptural simulacra known as frutta Martorana - a Sicilian confection that has been produced by monastic nuns from at least the Renaissance through today. The research investigates these objects for their ambivalent artistic, religious, and historical implications - in part by investigating their usage in the Catholic rituals of the Festa dei Morti, or Day of the Dead, as well as by situating their place in Sicilian folkloric visual culture. This paper proposes that cuisine is a viable form of art in itself and that an overlooked simple confection can offer a profound glimpse into historical realities, and that by including the spectacular visual and artistic legacies of cuisine into the canon of art historical scholarship, history itself can be more fully explored and understood. Additionally, this study demonstrates that the myriad of living culinary traditions that ‘remake history’ everyday may be further recognized as worthy of preserving, not as out-dated kitsch or culinary nostalgia, but as inherently valuable artistic contributions to the contemporary world.