In Rome’s Trevi district, the Palazzo Colonna houses the gallery of the same name. In the room of the Apotheosis of Martin V, one of the most expressive works in the precious art collection is the painting by Annibale Carracci: The Bean Eater, of which there is no documentary evidence of the dating, assumed to be between 1583 and 1585. Another painting by the Master is attributed to the same period: The Butcher’s Shop (now housed at Christ Church, Oxford) in which two quarters of beef stand out in the foreground, dangling from overhanging hooks.
A figure connected with that of the Zanni, a Venetian version of the name Gianni, from the Commedia dell’arte was mentioned for Il Mangiafagioli, beans being traditionally understood as the food of fools. An insulting epithet, then, in parochial and regional controversies.
In the realistically inspired painting, the action is set in a tavern. Seated at a table, very modestly set, a commoner, with a straw hat on his head, is intent – caught in the moment of bringing a spoon filled with legumes to his mouth with his right hand – on consuming a plate of beans.
The other hand, resting on the desks, clasps a piece of bread. More bread, a bunch of onions, a plate of mushrooms and a pitcher, next to and in front of which stands a glass half-filled with white wine, are on display on the table.
(Bruno Nobile)
