Food and wine is a common thread between classical art, specifically art of the middle ages. Including depictions of food became common starting in Ancient Greece where joyous celebrations were explored to show everyday life, special occasions as well as prominent literature works such as the bible.
Artists of the middle ages increasingly included food in their work because food has a huge possibility and creative realm that can display vibrant colors, exude texture within a work and provide the setting of where a piece could have taken place.
Food was a common communication device in painting due to its roots in classical literature and versatile nature that could be manipulated up to a point by adding depth and understanding to viewers. Food has widely accepted and understood symbols in greek literature and certain foods were associated with certain qualities or people, and the people of that time understood those symbols.
Art was used as a means to display a romanticized version of everyday life during the medieval times and food and wine was an important cornerstone of culture.
Pomegranates and fruit were the most essential foods that were included in medieval classical art because each fruit was associated with a different aspect of life or character trait. For example, the pomegranate was used to display the trait of desire and marriage because of all of its seeds, and the pomegranate is used frequently in the bible and greek mythology. The image on the right depicts Virgin Mary feeding Jesus with a half glass of wine and pomegranate in a bowl with a nut cut in half. The wine is meant to symbolize the blood of Jesus Christ and the half nut is meant to symbolize the Holy Trinity with an outer marrow, shell and inner kernel.