A picture of a 16th-century grocery list, sketched by legendary Italian sculptor and painter Michelangelo, has gone viral.
On Friday, a Reddit user shared a photograph of this fascinating piece of history and wrote, "Michelangelo's 16th-century grocery list. He illustrated it because the servant was illiterate."
The image has an extensive list of various food items -- each accompanied by small drawings, highlighting the sculptor's attention to detail. The letter on the other side of this list is dated March 18, 1518.
Michelangelo's 16th century grocery list. He illustrated it because the servant was illiterate
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It is penned on a yellow-coloured aged paper, hinting at its over 500-year existence. According to a 2018 report by Atlas Obscura, the list is owned by the Casa Buonarroti museum in Italy's Florence. It was written and illustrated by Michelangelo on the back of a letter for his servant, who was likely illiterate. The menu included vegetables, fish, wine and bread.
In the list, bread rolls were depicted as quickly-drawn circles. Michelangelo was to be served two rolls per meal. It included bowls overflowing with salad and anchovies; two dishes of stewed fennel were sketched next to each other.
Interestingly, Michelangelo drew a small wine jug next to a big one to highlight he wanted a smaller amount of dry wine. In his The Oxford Guide to Italian Food book, writer Gillian Riley wrote that this definitely looked like an upscale menu.
Internet reacts
In reply to the viral post on Reddit, several users in the comments section discussed Michelangelo's illustrations.
One person wrote that it seemed like the "list is written for the shop owner to get the goods and 'depicted' for the illiterate servant to be able to check that everything required was provided and to assess the reasonability of the cost."
Another person wrote that this was "just a good way" for the servant to remember food items.
A third person quipped, "I wonder how many millions this sheet of doodles is worth!"
The survival of Michelangelo's grocery list is remarkable, for only around 600 of his sketches exist today. He had completed the majority of his famous works by 1518.
