The Instructive and Appetizing Meal: Voltaire and Three Dinner Companions(?) 1778

Editor: So, this is "The Instructive and Appetizing Meal: Voltaire and Three Dinner Companions(?)" by Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin. It's a small ink drawing, and it strikes me as both intimate and satirical. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It's like a snatched moment, isn't it? A glimpse into a world of wit and indulgence. Saint-Aubin captures the spirit of Enlightenment salons, but with a wink. That precarious stack of dishes – is it stability, or a teetering artifice? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way, the teetering dishes. Curator: And Voltaire himself, delicately serving from that elaborate tureen. Is it genuine hospitality, or performance? The food for thought and food for the body, all intertwined. Editor: That adds a whole new layer. Thanks! Curator: Indeed! These tiny drawings are windows into a lost world, a world of ideas served with a side of irony.