Illicit Pleasures: Food and feasts in French art and literature with Sylvia Sagona

Any French citizen had the right to watch the King and Queen of France consume sumptuous dishes at the “grand couvert” at Versailles, but on the eve of the Revolution that feast had changed its significance from national display to national shame. During the 19th century French art and literature would invest images of food and dining with new social meaning in line with modern perceptions of smell and taste and the politics of the day. What you ate was more significant than where you were born.

Sylvia Sagona completed her post graduate studies of a Maitrise ès Lettres at the University of Aix en Provence where she lived and lectured at the university of Aix-Marseilles before taking up a lectureship in the Department of French and Italian studies at the University of Melbourne. She has taught in Paris on 19th century art and literature in partnership with the French Centre d' Etudes pédagogiques de Sèvres, and in Rome with the Università Roma 2 on how the Popes used the city layout for Christian propaganda.

Sylvia retired to create her own cultural travel company, Travels Through Time, and led study tours through Europe until 2023. During this time, she worked with the French-German television channel Arte and SBS to create a documentary on the invention of the department store. She has recently spent time in Rome filming a YouTube series on notorious Roman women from Vestal Virgins to Fascist spies.

Your ticket includes tea or Market Lane coffee served before the presentation, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This event is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our house museum, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This event is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

Image: Alexandre Dufay, The Wedding Banquet of Napoleon and Marie Louise, 1812. Musée national du Château de Versailles, Versailles, France.