How do you get dough to rise?  We moderns are used to yeast in small packets, and in plentiful supply.  Much modern bread manufacture depends on it. I use the term ‘manufacture’ here with precision, and as someone with some personal knowledge of how modern mass-market sliced bread is, these days, become the main kind of bread that we find in our supermarkets. 

I first saw Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus at the National Art Gallery in London when I was eight.  I had an aunt, who was an artist and art teacher, and being the only member of her family remotely interested in art and books, I was the convenient excuse for a trip to any new exhibition. I don’t remember what we were supposed to be seeing that day, but do remember being profoundly captivated by Dutch Masters, Flemish scenes and this extraordinary painting.