LES CANOTIERS 1 (2023)Painting by Frob
Dinners, Banquets, and New Year's Eve!
The banquet, unlike the more informal dinner, is a culinary event that takes place at a table, attended by a predetermined number of people gathered to celebrate a special day. For this reason, my top 10 paintings inspired by the atmosphere of the upcoming New Year's Eve dinner aimed to refer more to the concept explained above, "collecting" a series of works of art characterized by kitchens or living rooms full of guests, probably gathered for special and carefully planned occasions. Speaking of New Year's Eve for a moment, to immerse ourselves more in the atmosphere of this important day, it's worth remembering that the Romans already celebrated the change of the year with elaborate banquets, which later fell precisely between December 31st and January 1st. This specific dating is attributed to Julius Caesar himself, who in 46 B.C. introduced the Julian calendar, where the first day of the year as we currently know it was established. Nevertheless, this celebration was not yet widespread in many European countries, which only standardized it with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, instituted by Pope Innocent XII in 1691. Now that we are filled with knowledge and truly ready to celebrate, let's prepare to get into the mood of the long night between the 31st and the first with the culinary celebrations proposed by my top 10! Before we begin, I would like to clarify one last aspect: the selected masterpieces are inspired by festive moments in general, without necessarily referring to New Year's Eve...
Sandro Botticelli, Nastagio degli Onesti, third episode, 1483. Tempera on panel, 82 x 142 cm. Madrid: Museo del Prado. Madrid.
1.Sandro Botticelli, Nastagio degli Onesti, Third Episode (1483)
A joyful banquet is interrupted by the sudden arrival of a knight, fiercely wielding a sword, and the aggressiveness of two biting dogs. Why did Botticelli paint this tempera on wood, now preserved in the Prado Museum (Madrid) in this way? The Italian master brought to life an interpretation of the events of Nastagio degli Onesti, narrated within Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron, specifically referring to the third episode, which takes place in the pine forest surrounding the city of Ravenna. Nastagio organized a banquet here to convince a woman who did not reciprocate his love. In the general festive atmosphere, the above-mentioned knight unexpectedly appears, chasing a maiden being torn apart by dogs, frightening the diners who want to flee. Meanwhile, Nastagio, turned away in the foreground, tries to reassure them. There is nothing to fear, as the man wielding the sword is the ghost of Nastagio's ancestor, Guido, who has come to remind him of his tragic love story. In this story, the woman who rejected him and drove him to suicide was condemned to be killed every Friday, her heart given to the dogs. Guido's terrifying example quickly convinced the maiden who had rejected Nastagio to marry him, as depicted in the joyful event celebrated on the left side of the painting.
Raphael, Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche, Loggia od Psyche, 1518. Villa Farnesina, Roma.
2.Raphael, Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche, Loggia of Psyche (1518)
Once again, we find ourselves in front of the recurring artistic combination, merging the event of a wedding with that of a banquet, in this case celebrating the most famous lovers in art history: Cupid and Psyche. Before describing Raphael's work, it's essential to introduce the context in which it was created—the Loggia of Psyche, a frescoed space by the master himself and his assistants, located on the ground floor of Villa Farnesina in Rome. The dating of this artistic undertaking has come down to us through a context of criticism and rivalry that involved the figures of Raphael and Michelangelo at the time. In fact, Michelangelo was informed of the creation of the Loggia of Psyche a year later, in 1519, by his fellow citizen Leonardo Sellaio, who wrote to him that the frescoes appeared even worse than those in the Stanza dell'Incendio di Borgo, also the work of the Urbino artist. Now that we can imagine Michelangelo reveling in Sellaio's unjust words, we are ready to describe the banquet, the final episode of the fresco cycle, in which Cupid and Psyche celebrate while being adorned with flowers by the Hours and perfumed by the Graces. Similarly, all the deities present at the event are depicted as couples, while Vulcan awaits his wife with a bored expression, Bacchus is present as a cupbearer, and Apollo as the musagetes.
Dirck Hals, A Banquet, 1628. Oil on wood, 40.6 x 66 cm. MET.
3.Dirck Hals, A Banquet (1628)
I can state with almost certainty that what we see is partly the result of a banquet and, for the most part, should be understood as the clear consequences of a collective drunkenness, ready to lead the protagonists of the masterpiece into daring dance steps or to flirt and laugh heartily. After the Italian context, we find ourselves in the Dutch one, well represented by the brush of Dirck Hals (1591-1656), an artist from the Golden Age known for his festive and playful genre scenes, sometimes influenced by the example of his older brother Frans. In fact, it is possible that Dirck studied with Frans and the genre painter Willem Buytewrch from Rotterdam, from whom he perhaps inherited the tendency to often depict small, distinct figures with fashionable attire. All of this is rendered through Hals' peculiar painting technique, known for being quite colorful, although in the case of "A Banquet," unfortunately less vibrant due to the worn wood, past cleanings, and the wood's grain, which are visible through the thinned paint layers.
Giambattista Tiepolo, The Meeting of Anthony and Cleopatra , 1743. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
4.Giambattista Tiepolo, The Meeting of Anthony and Cleopatra (1743)
Let's return to Italy, specifically in the year 1743, the year of the creation of a masterpiece featuring the iconic meeting between Antony and Cleopatra. I am referring to an episode from the fresco cycle by Giambattista Tiepolo, created for the Ballroom of Palazzo Labia in Venice, where we can admire what's described: the Roman general stands at the center of the work, distinguished by his classical armor, while Cleopatra, on the left, is dressed in 18th-century attire. The fresco also features other characters, but we find ourselves wondering about what the protagonists might be discussing. The scene, which fits into a more traditional figurative context of banquet episodes involving the couple, captures the moment when Antony challenges the wealth of Cleopatra, claiming he can offer her the most expensive dinner. However, Cleopatra responds with actions, immersing an invaluable pearl in vinegar to demonstrate the unimaginable luxury in which she is accustomed to living. The Italian master, in fact, chooses to immortalize this very moment, surrounding it with a clear perspective illusion that emerges between the partly cloudy sky and a staircase descending downward, while classical architectural elements are visible on the side, including columns, capitals, pilasters, an arch, and a lintel.
William Salter, The Waterloo Banquet, 1836. Oil on canvas, 81.3 x 137.4 cm. Private collection.
5.William Salter, The Waterloo Banquet (1836)
Moving away from the repetition of celebrations related to romantic relationships, it's worth noting that banquets can also arise from a military victory, in this case, the famous Battle of Waterloo. For those who may not have heard of it or don't recall studying it in school or university, the name refers to the date of June 18, 1815. On that day, during the war between French forces and the British-Dutch-German army of the Duke of Wellington, as well as the Prussian army led by Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Napoleon suffered his final defeat. Demonstrating the historical significance of this battle, William Salter, an English painter, responded twenty-one years later with "The Waterloo Banquet," which happens to be his most famous work. The British artist, however, had a clear reason for painting this subject. He happened to witness the commemorative banquet at the Duke of Wellington's house while riding in Hyde Park on June 18. Subsequently, the Duke granted the painter access to his drawing-room at Hyde Park Corner to faithfully depict it. The work, commissioned by Lady Berghersh, the Duke's niece, portrayed many celebrities of the time, including King William IV, Charles Lennox, Hussey Vivian, Major General Sir Peregrine Maitland, and Rowland Hill. It is important to note the portrayal of the latter, as most of them are depicted naturally seated in conversation groups, with the exception of the Duke of Wellington, proposing a toast, and the King, seated to his right.
Giuseppe De Nittis, Breakfast in the garden, 1884. Civic Museums, Barletta.
6.Giuseppe De Nittis, The Bishop's Lunch (1861)
The moment of the toast, in this case, the very moment when people raise their glasses, has been captured in Giuseppe De Nittis' painting "The Bishop's Lunch." De Nittis was an Italian painter associated with the Impressionist and Verismo artistic movements. Verismo, in this context, refers to a tendency closely related to realism, a movement that developed in the 1840s, starting with the French example of Gustave Courbet, its main exponent, along with Honoré Daumier and Jean-François Millet. To clarify the distinction between these two artistic terms, despite their affinity, realism focuses more on the objective representation of facts, while verismo places greater importance on depicting the inner lives and social status of its subjects. Returning to the masterpiece in question, "The Bishop's Lunch" immortalizes elegant diners placed on the rigid horizontal plane of a set table, giving the environment a worldly connotation. At the center of the composition is the subject that gives the painting its title, the bishop, placed almost in front of a window, a motif also found in a similar setting on the far right of the painting, where less formal bourgeois individuals are also dining.
Gunnar Berndtson, Th Bride's Song, 1881. Oil on canvas, 66 x 82.5 cm. Finnish National Gallery.
7.Gunnar Berndtson, The Bride's Song (1881)
Gunnar Fredrik Berndtson (1854-1895), a Finnish genre and portrait painter, completed his studies in Helsinki before moving to Paris in 1876. In Paris, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts, a rarity among his compatriots. The masterpiece I have chosen for the top 10 is the artist's most well-known work, where he demonstrates his painting skills in the perfect rendering of fabrics and various details. Berndtson was generally known for creating paintings set in historical settings, but in this particular case, he opted for a contemporary context, showing some influence from Impressionism. Additionally, the models depicted are some of the artist's friends, and the plant species are meticulously studied, symbolically alluding to the transition from youth to marriage and eventually motherhood. When we observe this work, it almost feels like we are seated among the diners, captivated by the figure of the bride, the undisputed protagonist of the composition.
Sir James Dromgole Linton, The Marriage of the Duke of Albany, 27th April 1882. Royal Collection.
8.Sir James Dromgole Linton, The Banquet
Sir James Dromgole Linton (1840-1916) was an English painter, watercolorist and lithographer, the author of the masterpiece I am about to describe: inside an outdoor courtyard, a long table is laid out and occupied by diners, who, in addition to drinking and probably eating, are intent on listening to music danced by a girl. The girl, seen from behind, moves gracefully, barefoot, wearing a red and gold dress, standing on a mosaic floor. At this point, you may wonder who the main recipients of her dance are. They are the hosts, the two figures seated beneath the enormous canopy decorated with noble emblems. Describing these hosts briefly: the wife is dressed in red and fans herself with a black fan, while the husband wears fur and a tunic. This entire scene is set in an environment with strong classical references, as well as a sixteenth-century setting.
Grant Wood, Dinner For Threshers, 1934. Oil on hardboard, 50.8 x 203.2 cm. Via Wikiart.
9.Grant Wood, Dinner For Threshers (1934)
Through a elongated, lowered, and "cut" perspective, the masterpiece in question captures a long table set in a living room next to the kitchen, hosting a multitude of laborers from typical Midwestern American farms. This image, with its sober and authentic feel, was conceived to highlight the importance of agricultural work, as well as the customs and lifestyles of the social class in question. In fact, at first glance, the woman crossing the kitchen threshold with a dish in hand might seem to be the wife of the man sitting at the head of the table. However, she is actually his daughter, who, remaining unmarried, had to stay on the farm to assist her widowed father. The details, not only in the narrative but also in the painting technique, are what made the artist famous. His style was greatly influenced by the fine realism of Flemish and German paintings from the 15th century. When observing this work, we can immerse ourselves in the details, such as the wood-burning stove, the cat, the mashed potatoes, the coffee pot on the stove, and more, all of which offer a clear sense of genuine domesticity.
Stanley Spencer, Dinner on the Hotel Lawn, 1956–7. Oil paint on canvas, 949 × 1359 mm. Tate.
10.Stanley Spencer, Dinner on the Hotel Lawn (1956–7)
Who is Stanley Spencer (1891-1959)? He was a British painter known for frequently setting his work in his hometown of Cookham in Berkshire. What inspired him in this place? What fueled his creativity were childhood memories collected from this place, such as, in the case of "Dinner on the Hotel Lawn," those borrowed from the boat races of the Cookham Regatta, which used to take place along the riverbank in the early 20th century. However, what truly stands out in this work is the moment the artist chose to depict, that of table preparation and anticipation rather than the consumption of meals and drinks. Therefore, among the figures in the foreground, which are the focal points of the composition, there are also the servants, often assisted or ignored by the diners. Lastly, returning to the artist, he initially connected his birthplace to the portrayal of biblical scenes, and only later began painting for commercial purposes, which led to an increase in the eccentricity of his style, now more claustrophobic and significantly more focused on details.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
