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Jean-Michel Moreau le jeune, printmaker

The Royal Feast (Le Festin Royal), 1782

Description

Maker

  • After Pierre Louis Moreau-Desproux, 1727 - 1793, French, designer
  • After Jean-Michel Moreau le jeune, 1741-1814, French, designer

Title

The Royal Feast (Le Festin Royal)

Year

1782

Medium

Etching and engraving on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • engraving,
  • etching

Supports

  • Medium weight off-white laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 52.2 x 39.5 cm (20 9/16 x 15 9/16 inches)

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Gift of Murray S. Danforth, Jr.

Object Number

50.312

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Festive City

December 21, 2012 - July 14, 2013

The birth of the Dauphin (heir to the French throne) to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France in October 1781 was a significant event, and the king spared no expense in the planning of a feast, masked ball, and fireworks in the city of Paris to honor his new son. To accommodate the banquet and ball, the civic organizers spent two months building a temporary structure adjacent to the Hôtel de Ville. The temporary gallery, shown as the setting of this print, was painted with simulated colored marbles, lapis, and gold, while crystal chandeliers were hung with flowers. On the day of the feast, the queen rode throughout the city, and then arrived at the banquet hall to meet the king (the scene shown here), where she dined with seventy-eight guests. Sugar sculptures on the table suggest the sumptuousness of the feast. Accounts relate, however, that few people actually received their food because the waiters could not get to the table (a story that Moreau corroborates by depicting empty plates). The ball, which took place two days later, was intended for invited guests, but, according to contemporary accounts, a throng of uninvited commoners inundated the hall, heading straight to the buffets. The king and queen made an unexpected appearance, causing further uproar.

Dress, Art, and Society

September 13, 1996 - January 5, 1997

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Royal Feast (Le Festin Royal) with the accession number of 50.312. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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