Pizza-style food depicted on a 2,000-year-old Pompeian painting
In the ruins of the ash-preserved city of Pompeii, a newly discovered painting depicting a bountiful plate of food depicts what appears to be a universally loved Italian dish – pizza.
Although the still life painting is not on the UNESCO heritage menu, missing key ingredients such as tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, archaeologists believe it could be its “distant ancestor.”
On Tuesday, the Pompeii Archaeological Site reported their excavation findings from the Region IX, buried in AD 79, where they found the still life fresco mural. Archaeologists believe the painting depicts focaccia bread possibly topped with pomegranates, dates, pesto, and various other herbs and spices. The flat bread is also seen on the silver tray with various dried fruits and a cup of wine.
A still life discovered in #pumpeii with an offering of bread (?) and fruit next to a cup of wine pic.twitter.com/DfNOMynN7i
— Gabriel Zuchtriegel (@GZuchtriegel) June 27, 2023
“I think of the contrast between a modest and simple meal that reminds us of an atmosphere that stands between the pastoral and the sacred on the one hand, and the luxury of the silver trays and the refinement of the artistic and literary representations on the other. other side,” said Director General of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, in a press release.
“How can we not think of pizza on this issue, also born as a ‘poor’ dish in southern Italy that has now conquered the world and is served in Michelin star restaurants.”
According to archaeologists, this still life painting is of the Xenia genre which was inspired by the Greek tradition of hospitality. Also known as the “Sphere of Hospitality,” archaeologists say there are about 300 depictions of this concept in various Vesuvian cities, but this painting is particularly notable for the high quality of its execution.
“Pompeii never ceases to amaze; it is a chest that always reveals new treasures,” the archaeological site’s minister of culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, said in a press release.
The painting was discovered in a house connected to a bakery. The entire 3,200 square meter excavation site, which is about the size of an average Pompeii neighborhood, was first explored by researchers between 1888 and 1891.
It was not until January 2022 that archaeologists continued to excavate the site and were able to determine from the previous excavations that the layout of the house contained a large atrium, several rooms and a furnace entrance. In the work rooms of the house, next to the oven, the skeletons of three victims were found.
