Bread Symbolism
an ongoing research on bread plastics
[…] from one order to another, all things are linked and correspond with each other so that they join together in a universal and total harmony… this correspondence is the true foundation of symbolism, which is why the laws of a lower domain may always be taken as symbolizing realities of a higher order.
[R. Guenon, Symbols of Sacred Science, first ed. Gallimard 1962]
Take some substance—say, bread. It requires a definite proportion of flour, water and fire. It is bread only when the ingredients are in the right proportion, and similarly with man… each source must contribute a corresponding quality and quantity. If J. has much flour, that is, physical postures, but no water or fire, it is simply flour and not an individual, not bread. She (O.) produces water (feeling), she has many postures. But no bread can be got from, water— again it is worth nothing; the sea is full of water. L. has much fire but no flour or water—again it is worth nothing.
[G. I. Gurjeff, Views from the Real World, first ed. 1975]
Sardinia (IT). Traditional 'coccoi pintau' bread. Picture by Alessandra Guigoni. link source
On the importance of Bread
in domestic and religious rituality
This is an ongoing research on the semantics and modifications of bread plastics.
The study is based on visual recognition from diverse food cultures to highlight recurrent symbols and emergencies of similar shapes in both daily and ritual bread. Tackling routes of bread symbols from a design perspective means to attempt at a horizontal systematization of a field of knowledge that has been mainly investigated from a vertical anthropological perspective, with focuses on specific social groups which are ascribed to geographical or cultural regions.
Among all cultural symbols, bread is the most loaded with meaning. Bread represents the re-founding of life, 'miniaturised sun', as in Piero Camporesi's words. There must be a reason,' for Antonino Buttitta, 'if bread everywhere is round in shape and not square, which would be easier to cut and divide. The shape that reproduces the circle symbolically represents the circular dimension of time, the cyclical succession of the seasons, the continuum of life of which bread is an exemplary metaphor.
The analysis of bread as a manifestation of material and visual culture allows for a deeper and multifaceted understanding of the relationship between form, meaning and function, which is essential to the design discipline. It opens up perspectives on the one hand on cross-cultural approaches and practices, on the other hand on the possibility of applying contents and structures of (in this case, bread-related) rituality to social design processes and community-building.
Bread is humble and polysemic in bringing together the four founding elements: earth, air, water and fire. The consubstantiality between man and bread can make us say that 'it is not only man who makes bread', but it is also 'bread that makes man'.
Essential Bibliography:
Buttitta I. E., 2008, Verità e menzogna dei simboli, Meltemi, Roma.
Buttitta I. E., 2013, Continuità delle forme e mutamento dei sensi, Bonanno, Acireale Roma.
Camporesi P., 1980, Alimentazione, folclore,società, Pratiche editrice, Parma.
Siteography:
Sun Symbols
Image credits, left to right, top to bottom:
1. Gamokoulouro, Cretan wedding bread. link source
2. Su Nuraxi (Sardinia, IT), disc-shaped 'pintadera' dated VIII-VII ct. B.C. (LILLIU, ZUCCA 1988, fig. 33, p. 62). link source
3. Borore (Sardinia, IT), ceremonial bread for st. Marc's feast. Crown-shaped 'coccoi', 1968. Via Wikimedia Commons
4. 'Cuddura' from Calabria, IT
5. Salemi (Sicily, IT), 'Cuccidiatu' for the altar of St. Joseph. The disc represents Christ. Via Museo del Pane di Salemi.
6. Bortigali (Sardinia, IT), ceremonial bread for st. Marc's feast. 'coccoi de santu marcu', 1993. Via Wikimedia Commons
7. Salemi (Sicily, IT), Altar of St. Joseph. The three main figures on the first level represent Mary, Christ and St. Joseph. A strict rituality codifies each of the shapes on the altar.
8. Salemi (Sicily, IT), Altar of St. Joseph. link source
9. Salemi (Sicily, IT), Details of the Sun (Christ) and the Moon (Mary) on the Altar of St. Joseph.
10. Salemi (Sicily, IT), Details of the Sun (Christ) and the Moon (Mary) on the Altar of St. Joseph. link source
11. Kargopol (Russia) spring and ritual twisted biscuits "tetery" ("teterkas"), "vyukhi" or "kokurki". Arkhangelsk region, 1977. link source
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Double Spirals, Cosmic Spirals
Image credits, left to right, top to bottom:
1. Sardinia (IT), 'coccoi pintau' bread. Foto di Alessandra Guigoni. link source
2. to 4. images taken from P. Kolosimo, Not of this World, first. ed. 1969
5. Palazzolo Acreide (Sicily, IT), 'Cuddura' for St. Paul's feast. link source
6. Sweden, 'Lussekatter' for St. Lucia's feast. link source
7. Lentini (Sicilia, IT), 'mafalda' bread. link source
8. Ritual bread for St. Nicholas Day from Northwestern Bulgaria, named "Bogovitsa" or "St. Petka". ph Svetlana Kostova. link source
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Cosmic Serpents
Image credits, left to right, top to bottom:
The serpent can be read in symbolic continuity with the previous category of spiral-slike symbols, as well as with Hermete's caduceus, or with the symbol of the Knot or Labyrinth. Some bread shapes report it explicitly, while other display implicit reminiscences of their possible plastic origin.
1. 'Mafalda' traditional bread from Sicily. link source
2. Images taken from P. Kolosimo, Not of this World, first. ed. 1969
3. Serpent-shaped bread from To Ploumisto Psomi (Bread Museum), Cyprus. link source
4. Palazzolo Acreide (Sicily, IT), 'Cuddura' for St. Paul's feast. The traditional 'Cuddura' reports a serpent, that's related to the hagiography of the Saint. link source
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Antropomorphic figures
Image credits, left to right, top to bottom:
Descending from pre-Christian cults, patrophagic elaborations are often connected to death rituals, as a food offering to the souls of the departed. Loaves might then be shaped in the form of body parts, tibiae, femurs, bones, overlapping hands (manu ncoddru, armuzzi), or depicting small dolls (pupidda), more openly representing the dead themselves destined to be ritually eaten in order to be symbolically reintegrated into life and reincorporated into the family unit.
1. Salemi, Sicily (IT). Manu ncoddru, bread of the dead. image source
2. Greece, Kyra sarakosti. The woman with 7 legs is a traditional representation of Lenten. image source
3. Greece, Kyra sarakosti. image source
4. Greece, Kyra sarakosti. image source
5. Pupi di San Calogero, image credits pro loco Campofranco via siciliafan.it
6. Scicli, Sicily (IT), Pani di Morti (bread of the dead). image via the Ritual bread museum of Salemi.
7. Salemi, Sicily (IT), Bread of the dead. It was traditionally brought to the cemetery and then distributed to the poor. image via the Ritual bread museum of Salemi.
8. Salemi, Sicily (IT), "Peri di voi". Bread for the end of the harvest, representing the feet and the yoke of an animal. image via the Ritual bread museum of Salemi.
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