Vatel : the splendour of the table under Louis XIV

Publié par In Fine, le 16 mars 2022

112 pages

Résumé

François Vatel, maître d'hôtel and right-hand man to two of the most powerful men in France, was responsible for organizing wonderful and sumptuous feasts and banquets for the court of King Louis XIV. The festivities at Vaux-le-Vicomte, 17 August 1661, were of such profligate opulence that they precipitated the fall of Nicolas Fouquet. In April 1671, Vatel was in the service of the Prince de Condé, and was charged with organizing the reception of Louis XIV and his court at the Château de Chantilly. Nearly two thousand people had to be accommodated, fed and entertained. And all this for a political motive: the restoration of royal trust in the Prince de Condé. Vatel, sometimes described as a cook, and even, the inventor of the famous Chantilly whipped cream, devoted his life to this theatrical political backdrop. The publication of the present work this year, marking the 350th anniversary of the death of François Vatel, enables us to discover the man himself and the myth surrounding him, the festivities, and court receptions during the reign of Louis XIV; and how the art of the table à la française came into being.

Les Singeries de Chantilly

Dessins orientalistes du musée Condé

The Monkey Rooms

Chantilly

Livre de desseins chinois - Modèles de Jean-Antoine Fraisse pour les manufactures du duc de Bourbon (1735)

Rembrandt au musée Condé de Chantilly

Carmontelle (1717-1806) : Ou le Temps de la douceur de vivre

Vatel - Les fastes de la table sous Louis XIV

Critiques