Dining and revelry in French rococo art

Abstract

This thesis explores the popularization of the theme of the 'hunt luncheon' in the Rococo period, within the context of the châteaux renovations undertaken during the reign of Louis XV. In 1730s, the young king commissioned four paintings for newly conceived private dining rooms at Versailles and Fontainebleau. For the king's new salle à manger at Versailles, the Bâtiments du Roi asked Jean-François de Troy (1679-1752) to paint Le déjeuner d'huitres and Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) for Le déjeuner de jambon. At Fontainebleau, de Troy was asked to paint an outdoor scene entitled Le déjeuner de chasse, and Carle Van Loo (1705-1765) La halte de chasse for the same room. Not only was the theme of these commissions relatively new to French art, but the size of the works was remarkable for what might be called tableaux de modes and for their placement at these royal châteaux. Moreover, the salle à manger was a relatively new and fashionable room type, introduced into elite domestic architecture in the eighteenth century.