Eating at the Museum - Getty Center's 'Festival Foods' Exhibit

Wednesday, January 27, 2016
By The Getty Institute

The Edible Monument: The Art of Food for Festivals

Elaborate artworks made of food were created for royal court and civic celebrations in early modern Europe. Like today's Rose Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day or Mardi Gras just before Lent, festivals were times for exuberant parties. Public celebrations and street parades featured large-scale edible monuments made of breads, cheeses, and meats. At court festivals, banquet settings and dessert buffets displayed magnificent table monuments with heraldic and emblematic themes made of sugar, flowers, and fruit. This exhibition, drawn from the Getty Research Institute's Festival Collection, features rare books and prints, including early cookbooks and serving manuals that illustrate the methods and materials for making edible monuments.

The pastry shop, Abraham Bosse, ca. 1600s

The banquet of the Gods, Mathäus Küsel after Lodovico Ottavio Burnacini, 1668

Centerpiece for the feast of Senator Francesco Ratta, 1693

Credenza of silverware in the Palazzo Vizzani in Bologna, 1693

Table with sugar figures for the marriage of Duke of Jülich, 1587.

Table with One Hundred Settings, 1747

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WHERE:
The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(310) 440-7300

WHEN:
10/13/2015 - 3/13/2016
Tues–Fri and Sun: 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Sat 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Closed Mondays

HOW MUCH:
Admission to the Getty Center is FREE.
Parking is $15, but $10 after 5:00 p.m. for
Saturday evening hours and for evening events.