Man rijgt vlees aan het spit tijdens het Fête des Loges before 1833

Charles Abraham Chasselat made this print of a meat skewer during the Fête des Loges. Here we see the everyday life in early 19th-century France depicted through the traditional art material of printmaking, requiring the skilled hand of an artist. The artist used etching or engraving techniques to carve the image into a metal plate, demonstrating the artistic conventions of the era. But look closer. What’s striking is not just the scene, but how its composition echoes the social divisions of the time. On one side, a person works to prepare the feast, highlighting the labor involved in producing food. On the other side, we have the upper classes enjoying the meal, a clear depiction of the socio-economic structure. This print challenges our perceptions of fine art by linking it to the labor, politics, and consumption of its time, offering a snapshot of the daily life and social inequalities inherent in the 19th century.