(I) In a study called ‘Food Art Does Not Reflect Reality’,
researchers from Cornell University’s Food and Brand
Lab analysed American and European paintings of
family meals between the years 1500 and 2000. (II) The
study compared how frequently a food item was
depicted in art with how commonly it was consumed.
(III) Drawings in cappuccino foam and artfully-staged
overstuffed hamburgers, for instance, showed that
social media is an endless feed for food. (IV) Although
lobster, hazelnuts and lemons were quite rare, they
were particularly popular. (V) This art, they discovered,
was used to show off wealth or talent than to display the
food actually eaten.