Salt Life, Renaissance Style: The Symbolism of Salt in Art

Art History presentation with Dr. Scott Brown, UNF

Salt Life, Renaissance Style: The Symbolism of Salt in Art from the King’s Dinner Table to Da Vinci's Last Supper

October 31, 2025, 10:00 am

Join us for an exciting presentation and refreshments!

$15 future members, $10 members

We live at the beach, where the salt air dissolves our doorknobs and defines Jacksonville’s most famous lifestyle brand. A lot of us also probably watch our sodium intake! Salt has a long history of symbolic meaning connected to its natural, social, and chemical properties. In fact, salt inspired the design and meaning of some of the most famous works of medieval and Renaissance art. From the dinner table of the king of France to Da Vinci’s Last Supper, we will explore some of the most profound, bizarre, and beautiful artistic reflections on salt’s many roles in human life and society.

Dr. Scott Brown is Professor of Art History and Interim Dean of the Hicks Honors College at the University of North Florida, as well as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. His research and teaching address the history of medieval and early modern art, including problems in monumental art, liturgy, and religious ritual; symbolism and iconography; and the social economics of monumental art and cultural philanthropy in the Middle Ages and the modern era. His recent publications explore legal and judicial significance in medieval art, including images of beards, baldness, and the Apocalypse in the medieval Beatus manuscripts and monumental art. His recent courses explore a “hyperlocal” art history that reexamines the history of art from the 15th century to the present from a standpoint in North Florida.

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