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Sources: The "Repas Champetre" Tapestry

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One of the first images that started me thinking about picnic-like meals in the SCA's period was this tapestry. The scene is refered to as a "Repas Champetre" which more or less translates to "meal in the fields".

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Description

This is a French tapestry from Tournai, from the 3rd quarter of the 16th c. A group of shepherds and shepherdesses appear to have been joined by a few well-dressed men and women for a picnic on the grass. This is part of an entire genre of "pastoral" scenes depicting shepherds, but often including what appear to be higher class individuals or sometimes combining pastoral and hunting scenes.

Observations

Just some initial notes on items of interest in the scene:

Types of people

• Nobly dressed people (standing)
• People with slightly less rich dress (seated diners) who also wear accessories associated with shepherds; one woman wears a flower chaplet
• Lower class figures (smaller in fore- and background), also accessorized as shepherds but with clothing that is plainer and simpler than the diners

The diners are seated on the ground around a spread tablecloth. There are multiple dishes placed on the cloth with various types of food and drinks.

On the table

• A large platter with a rib roast
• Cut loaves of bread
• Knives
• A bread slice?
• Small bowls
• A covered salt?
• Round fruit (apples?)
• Cherries

Items being held and manipulated by the diners

• Loaves of bread being cut
• A round fruit being held
• Someone carrying a basket of fruit and a loaf of bread to the table

Drink

• A costrel (small barrel-shaped container for liquid) sitting on the ground
• A man drinking from a flask
• A man pouring a red liquid (wine?) from a flask into a bowl

Background activities (mostly being performed by shepherds and others in lower-class dress)

• Picking fruit
• Spinning
• Playing bagpipes and a hornpipe (both instruments associated with shepherds)

Reference

Les Fastes de la Tapisserie du XVe au XVIIIe Siècle. 1984. Institut de France. Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris. Plate 3

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