Sandro Botticelli
One would believe that God was something to be found in nature, among the sheep and the cows or at least the buffalo milk. In times gone by, the oxen were taken to a church for a blessing and to bless the farm and any farming. There are still the cowsheds as a reminder of how sacred the cows were to the Italian farm people and one feels they would have brought divine gifts of food for this ascension service by a divine priest. And by the nature of food in this location the earthly produce of surrounding villages is very much a part of the Tuscan tradition. The food is of such high quality, perhaps the locals decided to try the divine gifts left for this blessing and were impressed with what they tasted. The priests may have left the food for the general populace to try, given it would have felt sacrilegious to consume this food for the priests. One cannot imagine the cheese made from the buffalo milk would have been left behind probably because it would not have lasted for very long or have been very palatable on its own, so perhaps they just left bread.
Paolo Lombardi, Siena
Rogier van der Weyden
Sandro Botticelli
Sandro Botticelli
