French school of the first half of the 19th century - Interior of a bakery

French school of the early 19th century

Oil on canvas
45.5 x 60 cm (59.5 x 74 cm with frame)
Beautiful carved and gilded wooden frame from the 19th century

In the first half of the 19th century, the theme of the bakery interior was appreciated by painters. Like the interiors of abbeys or churches, it was a pretext for games of chiaroscuro à la Granet thanks to the fires of the ovens and the many corners of these small factories for making bread!
Marius Granet himself exhibited the “Interior of a Bakery” at the Paris Salon of 1824 (now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Besançon). Johannes Jacobus Berkman exhibited “A Bakery” at the Salon of 1830 and Alexandre-Victor Fontaine exhibited an “Interior of a Bakery in Paris” at the Salon of 1850.
Our table is also a real document in the history of French bakery. It shows the different parts of the interior of a bakery, the different tools needed and the different stages of bread making at the end of the 18th century.
You can also see, in a niche, a bust statue of Saint Honoré. The patron saint of bakers was born in the village of Port-le-Grand, in Picardy at the beginning of the 6th century. Legend has it that when this dissipated young man announced to his nurse that he wanted to become a priest, she was baking his bread. “And when my shovel has leaves, you will be a bishop!” scoffed the brave woman. Under his amazed eyes, the shovel began to turn green again. Saint Honoré was bishop of Amiens in 566.
Rue Saint-Honoré and the Faubourg Saint-Honoré have made him famous throughout the world, as well as the pastry shop that bears his name. The origin of the name of the street comes from the chapel built between 1204 and 1209 thanks to a baker Renold Chéreins who gave nine acres of land to build the chapel there; this land was located near the Porte Saint-Honoré and slightly set back from the road that went to Saint-Ouen, Argenteuil and Neuilly, that is to say the current rue Saint-Honoré.
In the 15th century, the first brotherhood of bakers was founded in Paris, in the church of Saint-Honoré.

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