At the table of a great Roman banker of the Renaissance, the meal unfolds in successive courses (servizi). The credenziere first presents cold dishes arranged on silverware — pastries, white dishes, candied fruits — then the cucina sends out hot meats and fish. The meal closes with confetti: spiced sweets, almond pastes, and perfumed wines. Each course is as much a spectacle as a meal, punctuated by music and flowers strewn on the damask tablecloth.

Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, grains of paradise, and white sugar from the Levant, brought by galley: at Chigi's table, spice not only seasons — it proclaims wealth. He who financed popes and drew alum from the Tolfa mines knew that perfuming a dish with cinnamon was like pouring gold onto it.