'Pizza' painting found in ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii

Reuters ^ | June 30, 2023 | Reporting by Cristina Carlevaro, editing by Alvise Armellini and Angus MacSwan

[SunkenCiv]

A fresco depicting what might be an ancestor of the Italian pizza on the wall of a house in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.

via Reuters TV

[j.havenfarm]

Please note: no pineapple. Those of us who fight against the pineapple-on-pizza atrocity are upholding ancient tradition

[nwrep]

Many ancient cultures, particularly those of the Near East and around the Mediterranean, had flat breads as part of their dietary regimen.

[SunkenCiv]

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[nwrep]

Pineapples, like tomatoes, are a new World import, that only became known after Columbus’ discovery.

[mikey_hates_everything]

The Pedosta brothers get around.

[BradyLS]

What an amazing still-life! Looks like it could have been made during the Renaissance!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Ancestor” of pizza? That looks like the real deal. Look at that big, puffy, crunchy crust! And all the needed toppings and sauce are sitting next to it.

[BradyLS]

I think I see mushrooms and cheese on it, anyway. Don’t know what other sauces go well on a pizza that isn’t tomato, though.

[SunkenCiv]

[snip] Pizzas as we know them today, with tomato and mozzarella, weren’t baked in Italy until the 1800s. Instead, the Roman fresco likely features a flat focaccia — food that was commonly eaten in the town before it was destroyed in the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. [/snip]

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/2000-year-old-not-a-pizza-fresco-discovered-in-pompeii

[nwrep]

I agree. The realism is stunning. This could be something by Caravaggio 1500 years later.

[SunkenCiv]

The Romans used something like alfredo sauce since toms weren’t available.

[OrangeHoof]

Near the Fresco was a sign written in Italian: “15 minutes or it’s free!”

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I'm surprised they didn't show this famous Pompeiian mosaic of a couple of pizzaiolos at work.

[Magnum44]

Pizza! Pizza!

[SunkenCiv]

:^) Regular price, 4 denari, 4 denari, 4 denari.

[eclecticEel]

No tomatoes though; and I wouldn’t call anything lacking a tomato based sauce a pizza.

[NautiNurse]

Exquisite! Gotta get back to Pompeii one of these days.

[gundog]

To say nothing of Canadian bacon.

[Bob434]

my eyes are tired- arte those anchovies on the pizza? Or soem kind of small fish?