Palette to plate

Some crispy loaves of bread, a clay pot full of freshly picked wild strawberries, two crabs on a table, grains of rock salt glittering like diamonds, cornucopias, picnic baskets and the sheer joy of sipping coffee by a fountain... If only this was not just for the eyes!

This mouth-watering tour will be a celebration of food in all its glory, from the symbolic meaning of food in early religious paintings to the gravity-defying still lifes of the Post-Impressionists.

The wealth of paintings representing food in the collection will be a unique opportunity to chart the changes in taste, the sourcing of ingredients and to understand how artists including Piero di Cosimo, Pieter de Hooch, Willem Claesz. Heda, Diego Velázquez, Nicolas Lancret, Gustave Courbet and many others elevated food to works of art.

Muriel Carré is an award-winning guide specialising in art and architecture. Muriel studied English Literature and History at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, followed by a Master's degree in Art History at Christie's, London. Alongside teaching English Literature in France and abroad, Muriel has worked for a contemporary art online magazine in Madrid. Muriel now leads tours in English and French in all the major London museums and historic houses.