https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/old-art-offers-agriculture-info/#transcripts-body

A biologist and an art historian have teamed up in search of old artworks that shed light on how fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains have changed through selective breeding over time. By knowing the dates of artworks and the appearance of the food in paintings, and by analyzing DNA from preserved historical plant matter, they hope to track how the produce has changed through domestication over time: growing bigger, bearing more fruit, and gaining a more pleasant taste. The researchers are creating an online database for research and the public is invited to submit photos of crops foods in historical art from all over the world at #artgenetics. Listen to my podcast for Scientific American’s 60-Second Science.