Oyster Lunch, Jean-François de Troy (1735)
This painting was commissioned in 1735 by King Louis XV for the dining room of the Petits Appartements at the Château de Versailles, known as the "Retours de chasse" dining room, hence the absence of women. The gentlemen eat oysters, very fashionable in the 18th century, from solid silver tableware and drink Champagne, a wine created in the late 17th century near Epernay by Dom Pérignon; servants and guests follow the cork with their eyes, visible in the middle of the left-hand column. Glasses are set upside down in glass shelves, and wine is poured into a cooler in the center.
