Restaurant Recreates Leonardo Da Vinci's Self Portrait Using Italian Foods to Mark 500 Years Since His Death

The British restaurant chain Bella Italia wanted to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci with a strong statement piece that connected this great man with their new culinary offerings.

In order to accomplish this, they turned to food artist Carl Warner who brilliantly fashioned a recreation of the iconic Da Vinci self-portrait using traditional Italian foods. Included in his palette were different types of spaghetti, meats, and bread, much in the classic style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

Leonardo da Vinci’s self-portrait has been reimagined with classic Italian ingredients, to celebrate the life of the famous polymath who died 500 years ago. The food masterpiece was commissioned by Italian restaurant chain Bella Italia to celebrate Da Vinci’s life and work, and mark the launch of their new menu.

Warner stated that the textures of the various foods were wonderful mediums with which to work.

I was thrilled when Bella Italia asked me to take on this challenge – the abundance of fresh, beautiful ingredients from the new menu gave me a great ‘palette’ to work from when reimagining the classic artwork by one of the great Italian masters. The contrasting textures and shapes of the different varieties of pasta worked particularly well when defining the details in the face of Da Vinci, which I just hope he would have enjoyed