Menu gedecoreerd met voorstelling van een toren en een portret van een onbekende vrouw 1897

Curator: Immediately, I notice a whimsical touch – almost a nostalgic air. Editor: That’s a great observation. Here we have "Menu decorated with a representation of a tower and a portrait of an unknown woman," a pencil drawing created in 1897 by Georges Montenez. Curator: A menu treated as a symbolic tableau! The tower instantly reads as civic identity or pride—perhaps even yearning for stability within societal shifts during that period? And then the portrait anchors it…is that an idealized woman? A queen? A local notable? Editor: Well, her anonymity certainly adds intrigue. Menus themselves document social life, choices, and the very availability of resources at a specific moment in time. This itemized eating—"Filet de bauf Portugaise," "gateau Hérodiade"—it shows who got to enjoy particular goods at this banquet. Curator: Food connects people. But I wonder if the building chosen isn't merely architectural; I see aspiration represented through upward visual lines, as the eye follows the drawing of a vertical ascent. Did people in 1897 connect particular architectural forms with cultural ideas? Editor: I suspect they certainly did. Consider civic boosterism during La Belle Epoque. Images, urban plans, and advertisements celebrated monumental building programs and their transformative impact on identity and society. But there's also an exclusionary component. If menus were artworks meant for consumption at a select event or business, we could call their imagery promotional tools for those who benefited from the current socioeconomic regime, even though these would primarily attract people willing to uphold that order. Curator: True; it reminds us how many meanings can accumulate around any simple item: status symbol, a record, and something so deeply connected with taste. Editor: Absolutely. "Menu decorated with a representation of a tower and a portrait of an unknown woman” opens into avenues of cultural and political consideration far beyond its ostensible function. Curator: Precisely, something small speaks volumes to all who see and think critically.