Pasta was and still is an immense inspiration in the life of world-famous artists throughout history. From musicians and writers to fashion gurus and film-makers, pasta became a means of expression for a lot of genius creative spirits around the globe.

Music

The famous Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini was a great epicurean and pasta lover. Most of all he preferred ravioli. His dream, as he put it, was “to live in the countryside, play duets and quartets and eat delicious ravioli”. The musician even invented a recipe of his own which got really famous: “Genovese Ravioli with Beef Ragout”!

Literature

In 1787 the great german poet and writer Goethe visited the Kingdom of Naples where he witnessed the pasta boom firsthand. Afterwards he exclaimed in his writings: “This macaroni they served us was exquisite… The pasta seemed unparalleled to me in its whiteness and fineness.” Pasta is also mentioned in Boccaccio’s world-famous “The Decameron”. He describes a mountain of Parmesan cheese and pasta chefs rolling macaroni and ravioli as a mouthwatering fantasy.  

Movies

We all remember that kind of film-making style named after Spaghetti, right?! Spaghetti Westerns (a.k.a Macaroni Westerns) is a famous and broad subgenre of Westerns infused with Italian style (western all’italiana). Here’s a nice post-holiday duo: a bowl of spaghetti plus a Spaghetti movie by the good old Sergio Leone! Spaghetti played memorable roles also in classic films such as the Marx Brothers’ Night at the Opera (1935) and Goodfellas (1990).

Fashion

How can we forget the amazing Spring/Summer 2017 collection of Dolce & Gabbana inspired by the classical Italian cuisine: pizza, pasta and seafood. From dresses adorned with bundles of dry spaghetti to such painted with vintage tomato sauce and pasta labels. Pasta-fashion is here to stay!

Paintings

In the 19th century it was a popular artistic genre in Italy to make “portraits of macaroni eaters”. (You can check for instance the pasta masterpieces of Saverio della Gatta or Domenico Gargiulo). One of american pop-art famous names – James Rosenquist, is also a fan of pasta-inspired art. His work “I love you with my Ford” from the 60-ies depicts… spaghetti! Today pasta constitutes a whole new art called Macaroni art. These are usually mosaics (or sculptures) from different macaroni glued to a surface depicting beautiful landscapes.