Eating & Drinking Info Discussion & Task Pass the Salt

Discuss Eating & Drinking

1. Acceptable Extravagance?
Study Eugene Lami's painting A Supper with the Regent. As Regent, Philippe duc d'Orléans was next in line to the throne and this picture highlights the extravagances associated with the French Royal family at that time, which partly led to the French Revolution.
Consider how much food and alcohol is being consumed in the Lami painting and compare it to the health warnings we hear about today regarding 'binge' drinking and obesity. Would such a scene be acceptable now?
Imagine that a photograph of our Royal Family in a similar scene has appeared in a national newspaper. Debate as a class whether you think they are setting a bad example or whether they should be free to behave as they wish.

2. Is eating just a necessary human process now?
The museum objects in this section show how meals in the past, especially for the upper levels of society, were often much more about the social importance of the occasion than about the simple acts of eating and drinking. Have we lost the sociability interaction of meal times in the modern era? What effect have things such as fast food restaurants had on our meal times? Is there a set time for your evening meals at home and do you all eat together as a family? Do you think this is important or not?

Your Task

Create a modern day picture (this could be a photograph) of a still-life meal time setting. This could be any meal time you wish. Consider the types of food you would incorporate into this. What do the different foods say about you? Also consider the setting and the crockery and cutlery used in the meal? Where are they from?

Does the setting say anything about you and your character? How do they differ from Van Hulsdonck's painting of 1614.