The First Images of Maize in Europe

Evidence is presented that the first images of maize in Europe are to be found in the festoons painted by Giovanni Martini da Udine about 1515–1517 that surround the frescoes designed by Raphael Sanzio in the fabulous residence, now known as the Villa Farnesina, of the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi. Additional representations of maize by the same artist painted in 1517–1519 are included in festoons in “Raphael’s Logge” in the Vatican Palace commissioned for Pope Leo X. The maize images indicate genetic diversity based on ear length and type and display characters found in the races of Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Their presence in Rome as early as 22 to 24 years after Columbus’ return from the first voyage to the New World is evidence of the very rapid diffusion of maize into Europe.