Giovanni Boccaccio and the Modern Perception of Wine

Giovanni Boccaccio and the Modern Perception of Wine

In The Decaтeron Ьу Giovanni Boccaccio 'the last mediaeval and the first modern human­ist', as тапу of his biographers choose to define him - wine is not only а common detail, but also а key to some of the main ideas conveyed Ьу the book. Quite often, before going to bed, the charac­ters spend some time over а bottle of good wine. Wine is ап intrinsic element of their perception of beauty and harmony in life. The Decaтeron (Eighth Day, Third Таlе) de­scribes а fictional country, Bengodi, where the vines are tied ир with sausages, and а goose is sold for а реппу with а gosling thrown in for free, there is а high mountain made of grated Parme­san cheese, and the people who live there do noth­ing but cook macaroni and ravioli, boiling them with broth of capons. Not far from this mountain runs а fair river, the whole stream being pure white Vernaccia (а grape variety): 'None such was ever sold for any money, and without one drop ofwa­ter in it.'* One of the characters boasts in сотрапу that 'he had made such good wine, as God himself did never drink better'. As а result, he is summoned Ьу the Inquisitor, whom he eventually manages to outwit. Boccaccio created also one of the most тето­rable figures in Renaissance literature, the lover hidden in а wine butt (Seventh Day, Second Таlе). Literary historians rarely miss the opportunity to point out that this motif is borrowed fют the Ro­тап author Apuleius (The GoldeпAss), but it nev­ertheless remains inherently representative of the spirit of the new age. Incidentally, in addition to this borrowed motif, The Decaтeroп offers evi­dence of further, more significant and meaningful continuity with antiquity. And this сап hardly Ье surprising. Peter Burke writes in The Reпaissaпce: 'What is most typical of the Renaissance тоуе­ment is the enthusiastic attempt to revive another culture, to emulate antiquity in тапу different spheres and circles.' This effort led to а rebirth of architecture, the Latin language and the visual arts; it was аН essentially the product of а new attitude to the individual and the world around him, which - as we shall see below - applied to wine, too. It is not difficult to identify traces of the ethics and aesthetics of the ancient Greek symposium in the structure of Тhe Decaтeroп. The ten young рео­ple fleeing from plague-stricken Florence retire to the countryside and decide that in the course of ten days each of them must tell stories in turn, and they agree that throughout this time their сотрапу shall 'live in order and pleasure, acceptable to аН, and without shame to any'. 'Order' and 'pleasure' were the two key words which also defined the Greek symposium as а forum for discussion with strictly established ethical standards and aesthetic aspira­tions. Boccaccio's characters decide that they will take turns as the elected king or queen for the day, an arrangement reminiscent of the equality of the participants in а feast in antiquity, as well as of the rih1al hierarchy established through the election of а symposiarch (see also р. 20-21). The undertaking of the characters in The Decaтeroп had clear aes­thetic motives, too: they were fleeing from Florence, where 100,000 people had died fют the plague in just а few rnonths, the streets were strewn with corps­es, and а horrible stench and groaning arose frorn the dead and dying, whilst the living had surren­dered to lechery, drunkenness and looting; they were fleeing frorn а city with по rnoral values or rules, to retire to а 'stately palace, having а large and spa­cious court in the rniddest round engirt with ga11er­ies, ha11s, and charnbers, every one separate alone Ьу thernselves, and beautified with pictures of ad­rnirablecunning. Nor was there any want of gar­dens, rneadows, and other rnost pleasant walks, with we11s and springs of fair running waters, а11 encorn­passed with branching vines, fitter for curious and quaffing bibbers, than wornen sober, and singularly rnodest.' Boccaccio wrote in 'The Induction' that 'they used delicate viands and exce11ent wines, avoiding luxury', and went оп to describe sorne­thing to the sarne effect at the beginning of every single day, clearly indicating that wine was an irn­portant elernent of а desired harrnony, of а coveted ideal new world. The story of Cistio the baker ( Sixth Day, second Tale), who through his wine and wit won the respect of Messer Geri Spina, а trusted friend of Роре Boniface, is quite rernarkable. A1though this story is neither the rnost popular, nor the rnost typ­ical in The Decaтeroп, it is particularly rneaning­ful in the context of our topic; therefore, it is worth retelling in sorne detail. Cistio the baker, who was а 'noble soul' but had apparently been neglected Ьу Fortune, prac­tised with dignity his not particularly prestigious trade. 'Now although Fortune had hurnbled hirn to so rnean а condition, yet she added а blessing of wea1th to that conternptible quality, and (as srnil­ing оп hirn continua11y) по disasters at any tirne befe11 hirn, but sti11 he flourished in riches, lived like а jo11y citizen, with а11 things fitting for hon­est entertainrnent about hirn, and plenty of the best wines (both white and claret) as Florence, or any part thereabout yielded.