Golden fruit : a cultural history of oranges in Italy

Author:

Mazzoni, Cristina, 1965-

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Imprint:

Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, [2018] and ©2018

Subject:

Oranges - Social aspects - Italy - History

ISBN:

9781487502669 and 1487502664

Description:

x, 193 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (colored) ; 23 cm

Bibliographic Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [170]-186) and index

Contents:

Introduction: How to Peel an Orange -- 1. Fruit of the Spirit: Health, Salvation, and Catherine of Siena's Candied Oranges; The Ambivalent Status of Early Modern Fruit; Holy People and the Introduction of Oranges in Europe; Sweet and Bitter Flavours in Catherine's Orange Letter; Catherine's Recipe for Candying and for Holiness -- 2. The Fruit of Love: Citrus Symbolism in Pontano and Basile; Oranges as Symbols of Love in Renaissance Culture; Pontano's De hortis Hesperidum and the Praise of Campania; Women and Fruit in Basile's "The Three Citrons"; Citrus Fruit and the Literary Dignity of Fairy Tales -- 3. The Fruit of the Womb: Ferrari's Maternal Images of Citrus; Pregnancy and Metamorphosis in Botany and Literature; Fruit, Women, and Monsters in Early Modern Europe; The Classification of Citrus Monsters in Hesperides; Ferraris Citrus Myths of Origin -- 4. Strange Fruit: Violence and the Sacred in the Economy of Citrus; Oranges and Wealth in Early Modern Times; The Ambivalent Value of Oranges in Sicilian Folklore; Sacred Oranges and Immigrant Stories; Violence and the Sacred Oranges of Rosarno -- Conclusion: The Colour of the Golden Fruit

Summary:

"Through a close reading of key texts, including poetic and spiritual writings, fairy tales, and a botanical treatise, Golden Fruit examines the role of oranges in Italian culture from their introduction during the medieval period through to the present day. Featuring a beautiful full-colour spread, Cristina Mazzoni's book brings together artistic depictions, literary analysis, historical context, and popular culture to investigate the changing representations of the orange over time and across the Italian peninsula. Oranges were introduced to Italy in the 1200s, many centuries after beloved Mediterranean fruits such as grapes, figs, and pomegranates--all well-known since Antiquity. Not burdened with age-old meanings and symbolism, then, oranges in early modern times provided a malleable image for artists, writers, and scientists alike. Thus, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, oranges appear in visual and verbal representations as an effective aid in physical and spiritual health, as symbols of romantic and of divine love, and as signs of geographic allegiance to one's citrus-rich land. Baroque poets, botanists, and painters regularly compared oranges to women for their shared hybrid nature, whereas later folklore presented this dual character of oranges from an economic standpoint, as both precious and dangerous. The violence intrinsic to oranges in these Sicilian texts from the eighteen and nineteen hundreds returns in the controversial representations of the orange harvest in early twenty-first century Italy."-- Provided by publisher

Collection:

BGC Monograph Stacks

Call Number:

SB370.O7 M39 2018

Available

c.1