Dining in style
Autore: Claudia Pianetti Della Stufa
Editore: Mandragora
Lingue di traduzione: italiano - inglese
Traduttori: Julie Henderson per Il Nuovo Traduttore Letterario
Un libro che presenta le apparecchiature nei contesti privati delle più illustri famiglie toscane: immagini variopinte e scintillanti, che raffigurano preziose porcellane, splendenti argenti e cristalli trasparenti.
Con raffinatezza e culto dell’estetica, l’autrice ci accompagna nella mise en place, spaziando tra allestimenti classici, contemporanei e country chic.
Dining in style. Between the traditional and the contemporary
Claudia Pianetti Lotteringhi della Stufa has always had a passion for fine table settings, and as a child she delighted in the family’s elegant tableware. Now she immerses us in the atmosphere of the finest, exclusively Tuscan tables, with the photography of artist Susi Lensi Orlandi, who was her invaluable collaborator in this work.
Convivio and companatico, from the Latin for living moments together and sharing bread, the quintessential food. Italy, before becoming a nation, was a “federalism” of municipalities and lordships where, especially from the Renaissance onwards and particularly under patrons of taste and culture such as the Medici and Sforza families, the custom of receiving guests who were worthy of special attention with an entrée in the dining room became widespread, thanks to master craftsmen of fabrics, metals, glass and ceramics.
The sight of a table laid with tablecloths, cutlery, glasses and accessories such as centrepieces, candelabras and decorations was a genuine coup de théâtre, like a film set. What could be better than the finest visual and tactile aesthetics as a preamble to the pleasure of the senses – of the eyes but also of the nose and mouth – aroused by the typically Italian culinary expertise?
And what better means of demonstration and persuasion was there to seal agreements, business deals, alliances and marriages?
Who, in the face of such bounty, would not have been willing to agree to whatever was proposed by the hosts?
Occasions even then, the art of hospitality has always been an invaluable marketing tool, especially if one has excellence at one’s disposal.
Here, the author has certainly captured a historical vision of the best national tradition of yore in images which, more than any other medium, both reflect and convey a heritage that everyone can enjoy by rediscovering the pleasure of being together at the ultimate meeting place: the table.
Let the games and dances begin and let these wonderful pages unfold.
