On Taste and Other Senses Synaesthesia in Renaissance and Avant-garde performance

• Published in: Performance research Vol. 23; no. 4-5; pp. 22 - 28
• Main Author: Berghaus, Günter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 04.07.2018
• DOI: 10.1080/13528165.2018.1512213
• ISSN: 1352-8165

Renaissance theatre and avant-garde performance shared an interest in synaesthesia (a blending of different sensory impressions) and often aimed at creating what the Romantic called a 'Gesamtkunstwerk' (Total Work of Art). This essay focusses on one particular sense - taste - and discusses some of the similarities between Renaissance banquets and Futurist dinners. Both were multi-media spectacles in which a variety of sense impressions was closely correlated according to artistic principles. I present a particularly well-documented spectacle that took place in 1489 at the wedding between Gian Galeazzo Sforza and Isabella d'Aragona. Here were not only words, music and movements closely interwoven into a harmonious whole; also the forms, shapes and colours of the food were artistically arranged, just like the costumes and scenic surroundings. And, of course, the smell and taste of the food, as well as the tactile sensations elicited during the meal formed part of an overall design. One has to wait a few centuries before the theatrical potential of food and its ingestion came to be recognized again. A pioneering role was played here by the Italian Futurists, who staged a variety of banquets and turned restaurants into venues for gastronomic spectacles. They also wrote plays for the theatre in which food played an integral role. As an example I discuss 'Il pranzo di Sempronio' ('Semprono's Lunch') by Emilio Settimelli and Bruno Corra, which depicts the five life stages of a man in the form of a five-course meal that is served in five different locations. I also present some of the banquets held in Futurist venues, where cuisine formed part of a balanced, vibrant and dynamic whole that truly aspired to be a Total Work of Art.