Name
Course
Date
The Baroque Era
The Baroque period, which coincided with the 16th Century, was one of the most influential eras in history. It had manifestations in Europe in countries such as Italy where it was first detected spreading over to the Americas with relation to the pilgrims while influencing most Western arts and culminating in the 18th Century in parts of South America, Germany and Africa. The era was articulated by the wealth of the bourgeoisie class characterizing the age as an age of definitive affluence. The Baroque period was also characterized by various events that were embedded in history. Occurrences such as the ascent of the Asante Kingdom in West Africa, modernization of Russia, the war between the Turks and the Romans, the descent of the Ming Dynasty, war between the Protestants and Catholic and the domination of nations by Britain in colonization, characterized the Baroque era. Moreover, the Baroque era influenced the various lifestyles of people in Europe constituting religious lifestyles, science, arts such as music and literature, fashion, sports and games. The period also influenced the daily cooking lifestyle of the European people with regards to change in cuisine, mealtime and use of culinary items such as forks.
Question one
Among the various elements that constituted the Baroque era such as architecture and music, the period was hugely influenced by the themes of hunger and gluttony. In Europe, onto the discovery of different, exotic spices and foods and the development of new food recipes, the pleasantries of a prescribed dinner rose to new cooking pinnacles. Moreover, the dining table became a new, exciting place with its own unique setting due to the use of new utensils such as centerpieces, sauceboats and tureens to present the innovative recipes. During the 17th Century, hierarchy based on economic stratification and occasion type swayed eating feasts in Europe. For instance, the then King of France, Louis XIV classed the dining feasts in the Court of Versailles by introducing the high placed Royal Feast, the large place setting and the small place setting suitable for informality. Formal customs of dining were established by the French Louis XIV all over Europe in the 18th Century through the French method of serving which was acknowledged as the civilized way of dining. In order to advocate for admonishing of gluttony, diverse dishes were placed on the table at similar times and in the exact prescribed locations so that the guests would help themselves to the dishes that were near them without moving the dishes and if needed, ask their neighbors to assist them in obtaining food that was far off. This style ensured that it was impractical for guests to sample all the dishes, thus making it essential to have an appealing assortment of food next to each guest. The themes of hunger and gluttony were also portrayed in most artistic paintings characterizing the Baroque period. One of the paintings that showed the theme of gluttony was the painting by the Dutch artist, Gerrit van Honthorst, Supper Party. In the 17th century painting, the artist drew a casual assembly of people screening a musician singing to the group while his cohorts enjoy in viewing the young woman feeding a man a piece of chicken despite the fact that the man’s hands are both occupied with a jug and a class(Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya, 2006). Another illustration that depicts hunger and gluttony in the Baroque era is the painting called Gluttony by the Belgian artist, Jacques de l’ange. The painting portrays three men, with the one in the center having disheveled clad with his shoulders bare while holding a cup in each hand. One of the men on his right holds a jug ready to refill one of the man’s cups when it is empty. The other man on his left is holding the candle illuminating him to be horned and devilishly grinning at the center man (Sawinski, 2012).
Question two
In the 16th Century, meal times and eating habits were different in most cultures in the Baroque period. Such food eating habits and meal structures such as breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper used in early modern times have been passed overtime and are in use, in the present time. In the early modern Europe, the time at which meals were taken was customary. The Europeans at that time ate dinner, which was the largest meal of the day in the morning and ate supper was smaller in the evening. Meal times, during this period gradually shifted from time to time with dinner being taken later than the previous times. In the 16th century, dinner was held at around eleven in the morning while, in the 17th century, dinner was held at two or three in the afternoon. By the 18th century, the time for taking dinner had shifted to as late as four or five o’ clock in the evening. The variable nature of the time for dinner necessitated the need to create a new meal for the day called lunch, which became standardized in the end of the 18th century. Breakfast was then developed due to the variable change of dinnertime. As dinner progressed later into the day, people became hungry early in the morning necessitating the need to create the morning meal, which was relatively lighter than lunch, dinner or supper. In other instances, breakfast was less likely to be taken if the evening meal was heavy which reduced the need for the morning meal. However, in southern Europe, breakfast was popularly characterized by a beverage, commonly coffee, and light pastry such as bread. In Northern Europe and Britain, the time for taking breakfast was around nine or ten o’ clock in the morning. In the 19th century, the morning meal was designated as a full and sumptuous meal characterized by foodstuffs such as eggs, bacon and even steaks as per the English gastronomy, which consisted of various foodstuffs such as fruits, pies, desserts, breads and sweets. Meal structures were also characterized by small changes in the four meals among the higher and privileged strata. For instance, the Londoners who ate four meals a day also included tea as an afternoon meal between lunch and dinner in the 19th century (Albala, 2003). According to Smith (2004), the Americans also adopted the four-meal pattern over the centuries until present often including the afternoon meal called a snack in their meal structures. Apparently, meal times as they were at the Baroque period varied over the centuries due to the inclusion of the breakfast most popularly accredited to the British. In all worldly societies, the four meals are taken at times, but they have remained rigid and inflexible despite the changing times.
The Baroque period was indeed a period that shaped history of most societies ranging from the development of classical music compositions, exaggerative paintings, sculptures, literature and even clothing. The era was deemed the most artistic and enchanting than other eras due to its unique and influential characteristics, which affect the modern times.
References
Albala. (2003). Food in early modern Europe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Catherine Sawinski. (2012, February 20). From the collection: Jacques de l’Ange “Gluttony”. Retrieved from http://blog.mam.org/2012/02/20/from-the-collection-jacques-de-langes-gluttony/
Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya. (2006). Gardner‘s Art through the ages. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Smith. (2004). The Oxford encyclopedia of food and drink in America. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]