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Images and Descriptions of Cucurbita maxima in Western Europe in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

2019; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/9781119616801.ch9

0730-2207

Alice K. Formiga, James R. Myers,

Plant Diversity and Evolution

Little is known about when the South American species Cucurbita maxima Duchesne was first brought to Europe, where in South America the first European specimens of this species came from, and what cultivar types were available in 16th and 17th century Europe. Botanical literature and iconography can aid in answering these questions; however, identifying this species in historical sources is challenging, due to inconsistent nomenclature as well as its visual similarity with other cucurbits. Using a multidisciplinary approach, this paper examines where in South America C. maxima was present before the arrival of Europeans and whether it could have reached Europe before the conquest of Peru. It also reviews the earliest appearances of C. maxima in European works to learn more about when and where different cultivar types were introduced. The authors discuss Ulisse Aldrovandi's herbarium specimen and botanical illustrations of C. maxima, the earliest botanical descriptions and mentions in agricultural books, and the small number of genre and still-life paintings containing C. maxima. They raise the possibility that the cucurbits painted by Giovanni da Udine in the Loggia of the Villa Farnesina and the Vatican Loggia in 1515–1519 may not be C. maxima. The first examples of this species in European frescoes may be by Francesco Salviati in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in 1543–1545. In addition, they discuss the first appearances in European art of several popular "heirloom" cultivar types, along with the difficulties of identifying them and making conclusions about their geographical diffusion based solely on art and botanical works.