Within the purview of world cultures, the vast majority do not address the subject of food in art in a gustatory manner or, at least, not to any great extent. When the subject emerged in the Mediterranean Basin, it was the Italians—one of whose bequests was the very concept of cives (or civilization)—who have had the longest history of a preoccupation with food. This being said, all art about food for eating in the West can be divided into three parts: leftovers on the floor, food displayed in preparation for the meal, and completed dishes, whether cooked or ripe, set out on a table, ledge, or some other flat surface. The ancient Greek beginnings were preserved by the Romans and feature the rhopoi, the trivial remains of a meal found in a floor mosaic that call to mind the excesses imagined by Petronius for the feast of the ex-slave Trimalchio in the Satyricon. Alternatively, there is the xenion, the gift...