The Art of the Chase: Hunting and Dining in 18th-Century Europe (lecture)

Date: Sunday, October 8, 2006
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Center, Museum Lecture Hall
Admission: Free; reservations required. Call (310) 440-7300 or use the "Make Reservation" button below.



What was dinner like for an 18th-century French aristocrat? Explore the vogue for the hunt and its influence on 18th-century European dining practices with Tracey Albainy, senior curator of decorative arts and sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Hunting was one of the most prestigious pastimes of the nobility in the 1700s, and a day of hunting was often followed by an elaborate meal celebrating the quarry of the hunt. Both hunting and dining developed into extensive rituals with specialized accoutrements, symbols, and traditions. Elaborate representations of hunting and dining also developed in painting, sculpture, ceramics, silversmithing, and even tableware.

The lecture complements the exhibition Casting Nature: François-Thomas Germain's Machine d'Argent, which introduces this new highlight of the Museum's decorative arts and sculpture collection and explores depictions of nature, hunting, and dining in mid-18th-century French art.

About Tracey Albainy
Tracey Albainy is senior curator of decorative arts and sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and an expert in European decorative arts of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.