17th -20th century · ceremony, workshop and privacy

Oyster lunch, Sargent's night meal, lunch in Manet's workshop and Anna Ancher's garden show that the table organizes relationships as much as food.

A set table describes who eats, who serves, who looks and in what space. Jean-François de Troy's Oyster Lunch features an aristocratic society, also famous for the early depiction of an uncorked bottle of champagne; gestures and glances circulate around a festive consumption. In A Dinner Table at Night, Sargent uses candles, flowers and reflections to make the table almost more present than the guests. Manet's Lunch in the Workshop combines young man, weapons, table and disparate objects in a scene whose relationships remain enigmatic. Manet's Lunch in the Workshop combines young man, weapons, table and disparate objects in a scene whose relationships remain enigmatic. Manet's Lunch in the Workshop combines young man, weapons, table and disparate objects in a scene whose relationships remain enigmatic. Manet's Lunch in the Workshop combines young man, weapons, table and disparate objects in a scene whose relationships remain enigmatic. Manet's Lunch in the Workshop combines young man, weapons, table and disparate objects in a scene whose relationships remain enigmatic. Manet's Lunch furnishing daily privacy. From ceremonial to family life, the meal produces its own social architecture. The "Meals, tables set and breakfasts" selection notably compares Le Déjeuner d'huîtres - Jean-François de Troy and A Dinner Table at Night. Its reading favors atmosphere.

A painted table is a plan of relationships: each seat, glass and gaze indicates human distance.