Giovan Battista Vermiglioli, Le sculture di Niccolò e Giovanni da Pisa e di Arnolfo Fiorentino che ornano la Fontana Maggiore di Perugia disegnate ed incise da Silvestro Massari (Sculptures by Niccolò and Giovanni from Pisa decorating the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia, as designed and engraved by Silvestro Massari).

Perugia : Tip. Baduel at V. Bartelli, 1834 Sala del Dottorato, S-5-13

The beautiful illustration of the tile from the so-called “Month-cycle”, decorating the lower basin of the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia, shows the abundance of the harvesting of wheat and cereals. This idealized image is in sharp contrast with the harsh realities of the XVII Century, when a great crisis hit the European continent, mainly caused by epidemics and famine, price inflation and a drastic demographic drop.

The meagre quantity of wheat bread, often unavailable during bad years and sold at impossibly high prices, led to its replacement with vegetables, specifically legumes (fava beans, beans, lentils, lupin beans and others) that were shelled, preserved and used as an alternative to wheat bread during bad times.

Wheat, but also rye, pearl millet and barley, commonly used by farmers, were gradually replaced by kernels of corn and corncobs, an exotic plant that had already been introduced into Europe in the XVI Century. Following its introduction, farmers began to discover polenta (cornmeal mush), a dish that reached its peak of popularity in the XIX Century.