History of Coffee

A legend of the 9th century tells the story of the Ethiopian goat-herder Kaldi who discovered the magic power of coffee. After his goats had eaten some bright cherries of a special tree they became highly energized and active. Kaldi tasted one of the fruits and began to experience the same effect. He delivered the news to a monk in a nearby monastery who quickly tossed the beans into the fire. This caused a delicious smell to arise and attracted other monks who salvaged the roasted beans and cooked them in water. They drank the black brew and were energized to stay awake during their nightly prayers. The first cup of coffee was born.

Like taking a shot of aromatic espresso, Mauro Bergonzoli’s work “The History of Coffee” instantly invigorates it’s viewer with powerful colours and intricate details of luscious landscapes and beautiful figures. A visual feast of images, this painting invites the observer on a stimulating journey from plantation to basket, exotic ports to high seas, Arabian carpets to oriental tents, and merchant ships to bustling cafés.

As a true lover of women, the artist ignores the ancient prohibition of female presence in coffee shops and allows the ladies to enter as well. The careful observer may notice a woman with umbrella and fashionable face-net approaching the coffeehouse from outside. A blonde beauty dressed in racing green steps inside what used to be a strictly “gentlemen’s” domain. In Bergonzoli’s artwork, anything is possible.

Coffee has influenced humans ever since it’s discovery in Africa such a long time ago. The first coffee house “Kiva Han” was born in 1555 in Constantinople. 200 years later, Venice opened Casanova’s stomping ground, the famous “Caffè Florian”. Vienna’s “Kaffeehauskultur” made the world richer in art, theatre and literature. Before the British became professional tea drinkers, coffee was their beverage of choice. In Germany port cities like Bremen and Hamburg were gateways to constant shipments of the popular “black gold”. Today everyone can drink coffee, all perhaps thanks to Kaldi’s Ethiopian goats!