Aristocrat’s breakfast Pavel Fedotov (1815-1852)

Description of Pavel Fedotov’s painting Breakfast on the Table (Breakfast of an Aristocrat)

Russian artist Pavel Fedotov’s fame came from many of his most beautiful paintings, but only one of them, under the quite ordinary title Breakfast on the Table, best captures all the artist’s skill and talent. The picture was painted between 1849 and 1850 - mi year. According to the notes of the author the subject for it was not chosen by chance, but under the influence of a small humorous story describing the life of an impoverished aristocrat, so some sources may be found another name of the painting - "The Breakfast of an Aristocrat.

What does the picture tell about? Its main idea is this:

A young socialite schlub, which was at that time a lot, squandered all their savings, losing them in cards or just gambling with the girls. At the same time, he does not want to reveal his precarious financial situation to anyone, justifiably fearing that he will not be accepted in secular society, which disapproves of poverty and misfortune. So he continues to surround himself with the external luxuries that are so elegantly depicted by the artist in the picture, such as an expensive candlestick, a beautiful lamp, a Persian rug, and a carved antique table. By selling these valuable items, he would have greatly improved his financial condition, but a hypocritical desire to appear to be like all his rich friends makes the young man sit at the table and eat a piece of black bread.

But this is only a prehistory of the event that is about to unfold, as the painting captures the moment when the breakfasting man is ready to burst in by an apparently uninvited guest. With great skill, Fedorov has conveyed the confusion that arose on the face of the aristocrat as he tries to hide his breakfast under a book. But by all appearances it is too late, for a piece of expensive surcoat is already glimpsed in the doorway, and the guest’s arm is already ready to pull back the curtain. The white poodle, placed by the artist at the very door, is already ready to greet the guest with a joyful bark.

Tension, fear of exposure, confusion are the main feelings that arise during the most detailed consideration of the picture. But it is undoubtedly that the popularity of the picture was the fact that gives its viewer a chance to come up with their own further story. Whether or not the entrant will understand the situation, whether or not the deception will be revealed, or whether the aristocrat will live his whole life this way is a mystery belonging to everyone’s imagination.