Mastro Martino: A Pioneer of Renaissance Cuisine – Eugenio Larosa
This article, initially published on the FAMALEONIS website (read italian version), explores the life of Mastro Martino and the significance of his celebrated cookbook, offering research insights despite the scarce and sometimes conflicting historical sources.
Martino de’ Rossi, more commonly known as “da Como” or de Rubeis, was born circa 1430 in the Blenio Valley, a secluded region extending from Bellinzona and crossing the Lucomagno Pass into the German-speaking cantons. During his lifetime, this area was part of the Duchy of Milan, governed first by the Visconti and later by the Sforza dynasty. Today, the Blenio Valley is situated in the Swiss Canton of Ticino.
Martino’s culinary journey began at the hospice attached to the church of San Martino Viduale in Monastero di Corzoneso, a vital refuge for travellers making the arduous trek between northern and southern Europe through the Lucomagno Pass (the Via Francisca del Lucomagno) or coming from the Nara Pass, which led into the Leventina Valley and the region of Uri.
His career took a significant leap when he joined the prestigious kitchen of Duke Francesco Sforza in Milan around 1457, playing a leading role in the opulent feasts of the Milanese court. Martino’s career reached its zenith when he moved to Rome, where he became the personal chef to Cardinal Lodovico Trevisan, Camerlengo and Patriarch of Aquileia, later serving under Popes Paul II and Sixtus IV. These years solidified his standing as one of the preeminent culinary masters of his time.
Between 1450 and 1467, Martino crafted his seminal work, De Arte Coquinaria, written in the vernacular. The widespread recognition of this work can be largely attributed to the humanist Bartolomeo Sacchi, also known as Platina. In 1475, Platina published De honesta voluptate et valetudine, a gastronomic treatise in Latin featuring 240 of Martino’s recipes. He hailed Martino as the “prince of cooks” and underscored his pivotal role in the evolution of Renaissance culinary arts: “Quem coquum, dii immortales, Martino meo Comensi conferes, a quo haec scribo magna ex parte sunt habita” (Book VI).
Following his tenure at the papal court, Martino returned to Milan in 1484 and entered the service of the condottiero Gian Giacomo Trivulzio. It was during this period that he concluded his illustrious career, dedicating a copy of his manuscript to Trivulzio. This copy is now preserved at the Civic Library of Riva del Garda.
Only four key copies of Maestro Martino’s esteemed work have come down to us.
The manuscript Ms.LC 153, held at the Library of Congress in Washington, is widely considered the oldest, dating back to around 1460. This is complemented by the Urb.Lat.1203 manuscript kept in the Vatican Apostolic Library and the F-MS-1, housed at the Civic Library of Riva del Garda, which underwent detailed restoration and was exhibited publicly for the first time in April 2024. Another version, MS B.19, is preserved at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York and contains variations attributed to an anonymous figure known as the “Neapolitan Cook.”
Of these, the manuscripts from the Library of Congress and the Vatican Apostolic Library are thought to be the most faithful to Martino’s original work, although the existence of an autograph manuscript directly written by him remains uncertain.
It is generally believed that Martino may have dictated the text to a scribe or worked alongside Platina during its composition. The manuscript at the Library of Congress, with its elegant and precise italic script, suggests the involvement of a professional copyist, indicative of a meticulous and high-quality transcription.
Maestro Martino’s impact on the world of gastronomy was groundbreaking. He represented the transition from medieval cuisine, deeply rooted in Galenic dietary rules that balanced the body through contrasting hot-cold and dry-moist elements, to a Renaissance approach that embraced greater freedom and culinary insight.
Martino’s methods empowered cooks with more independence in ingredient selection and combination, promoted a more measured use of spices, and introduced pioneering cooking techniques.
His recipes were systematically arranged by type of ingredient and dish, setting a modern standard that would influence culinary writing for generations to come.
Martino was also ahead of his time in recognising the importance of colour and visual presentation as essential parts of a dish, anticipating today’s emphasis on the aesthetics of food.
His guidelines for cooking times, often measured by reciting prayers like the Pater Noster or the Miserere, provide a fascinating window into the culinary practices of the 15th century.
Maestro Martino de’ Rossi is still regarded as a seminal figure in the history of cooking, with his “De Arte Coquinaria” acknowledged as a cornerstone of gastronomic literature. It marked the beginning of a new chapter in Italian and global culinary tradition.
Mastro Martino: A Pioneer of Renaissance Cuisine – Eugenio Larosa
References/Further Reading:
- Benporat, Claudio. Feste e banchetti. Convivialità italiana fra Tre e Quattrocento. Ed. Olschki 2001.
- Benporat, Claudio. Cucina italiana del Quattrocento. Ed. Olschki 2001.
- Bober, Phyllis Pray. Art, Culture and Cuisine: Ancient and Medieval Gastronomy. University of Chicago Press, 1999.
- Carnevale Schianca, Enrico. La cucina medievale. Lessico, storia, preparazioni. Ed. Olschki 2011.
- Faccioli, Enrico. La cucina dal Platina allo Scappi, in Trattati scientifici nel veneto tra il XV e il XVI secolo, Vicenza, Neri Pozza, 1985
- Faccioli, Enrico. L’arte della cucina in Italia. Torino, Einaudi, 1987;
- Platina, Bartolomeo. De honesta voluptate et valitudine. Un trattato sui piaceri della tavola e la buona salute. Nuova edizione commentata con testo latino a fronte. A cura di Enrico Carnevale Schianca. Olschki 2015
- Firpo, Luigi. Gastronomia del Rinascimento. Strenna UTET 1974.
- Lubello, Sergio. Il De arte coquinaria di Maestro Martino: antecedenti e dintorni in “A tavola nella Roma dei Papi nel Rinascimento” a cura di Myriam Chiabò. Ed.Roma nel Rinascimento 2019.
- Scully, Terence Peter. The Neapolitan Recipe Collection: Cuoco Napoletano. University of Michigan Press 2015
