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A Renaissance Detective: Reviving Italy’s Disappearing Fruit Varieties

When examining a Renaissance painting, Isabella Dalla Ragione’s attention is often drawn not to the artistry or the grandeur of the imagery, but rather to the representations of fruit.

This past spring, I accompanied Dalla Ragione to the National Gallery of Umbria, nestled within a 14th-century stone castle in the scenic city of Perugia. Although Umbria is celebrated for its vast green landscapes and ancient ruins, its art scene contains hidden gems rivaling those of more renowned regions like Florence. As we swept through the gallery, encountering masterpieces from luminaries such as Gentile da Fabriano, Dalla Ragione came to a halt before a striking painting by Piero della Francesca, a master artist of the 15th century.

The artwork, featuring the Madonna dressed in a rich blue robe holding the infant Jesus, also draws attention for the delicate cherries Jesus clutches—referred to as acquaiola cherries, a variety nearly extinct today but common in that era. Their red hue, symbolically indicative of Christ’s blood, echoes the sacred atmosphere of the museum.

However, Dalla Ragione, at 67 years old, vibrant, and with a keen sense of urgency, quickly ushers us to another piece of art that captures her interest. She directs my gaze to an altarpiece by Bernardino di Betto, known as Pintoricchio, painted in the late 15th century. At the feet of the Madonna, near the ornate hem of her azure robe, lie three oddly shaped apples, known as api piccola. To most viewers, these fruits might seem trivial, but for Dalla Ragione, they embody critical aspects of Italy’s vanishing fruit heritage.

These unusual apples, remarkable for their crunchy texture and ability to be stored at room temperature for months, exemplify a diversity in fruit that has all but vanished in contemporary agriculture. Dalla Ragione has been dedicated to uncovering such lost varieties through painstaking research over the last decade, merging art history with agricultural science. Through her nonprofit, Archeologia Arborea, she is leading efforts to preserve and revive these forgotten fruits.

Six centuries ago, Italy boasted an extraordinary diversity of fruit varieties, with unique characteristics tied to various ecological regions. Today, however, the stark reality is that only a handful of pear and apple varieties dominate production in Italy, accounting for over 70 percent of output. Dalla Ragione’s involvement in a 2020 biodiversity atlas revealed alarming trends; scores of fruit varieties once celebrated for their unique qualities have succumbed to the uniformity of modern agriculture.

The consequences of losing these diverse varieties extend far beyond culinary limitations. Genetic variety plays a crucial role in resilience against changing climate conditions. Mario Marino, an agronomist with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, emphasizes the importance of rediscovering and cultivating these ancient fruits as a vital strategy for preparing Italy’s agriculture for the impacts of climate change.

Among the remnants of these diverse fruited pasts lies Dalla Ragione’s family orchard, located 35 miles from Perugia atop a hill overlooking the Tiber River. The property, once a Romanesque church, now serves as a home filled with traces of history. The orchard houses more than 600 trees, representing 150 different varieties, including an impressive 43 types of pears.

While immersed in her research, Dalla Ragione often recalls her father, Livio Dalla Ragione, an artist and teacher who championed the importance of preserving local agricultural practices during a time when industrial farming was gaining ground. His legacy of nurturing local fruit varieties has become a focal point of Dalla Ragione’s life’s work, effectively planting the seeds of passion that she continues to cultivate today.

She reflects on her dual life as an agronomist and a performer in her earlier years, eventually realizing her true calling lay not in theater but in the fruitful landscape of agriculture. Recognizing the gravity of biodiversity loss spurred her and her father to establish Archeologia Arborea in 1989, embarking on a mission to uncover ancient fruit varieties.

Dalla Ragione’s research is bolstered by her interdisciplinary approach—drawing upon history, art, and the tactile knowledge acquired from her father. This rich blend has enabled her to delve into archival treasure troves documenting the lost fruits of Italy. Within these archives, she has unearthed records describing an astonishing array of fruit varieties that once flourished.

She has also found invaluable connections between historical documents and the artwork from Italy’s Renaissance period. The paintings, filled with an abundance of fruits, provide visual references that further inform her reintroduction efforts for these ancestral varieties. Through this lens, the fruits depicted in artworks are not mere decoration; they are key indicators of genetic diversity that once thrived.

Dalla Ragione’s dedication not only centers on documenting these historical varieties but also involves active engagement with contemporary agricultural practices. By collaborating with farmers, supporting custodians dedicated to heritage crops, and carrying out restoration projects, her vision for a more sustainable agricultural future takes shape.

Internationally, her work extends to Lebanon, Jordan, and beyond, where she aids in the revival of local fruit varieties, combating the erosion of biodiversity worldwide. Back in Italy, her initiatives at historic agricultural sites aim to rekindle ancient gardens that serve as living archives.

Ultimately, Dalla Ragione’s work highlights the interconnection of culture, agriculture, and biodiversity. She advocates for a future where diverse fruit varieties can flourish amid the challenges posed by climate change. As she succinctly expresses, “These plants are our history. These plants will be our future.”

Her journey underscores the importance of embracing agricultural biodiversity—an invaluable asset for the nutritional and ecological resilience of future generations.

Source
www.smithsonianmag.com