Breakfast in bed, c. 1930–1940
J Williamson A French Family at Breakfast, in “Peeps at Many Lands France” by John Finnemore, 1907
Top: François Boucher, The Luncheon, 1739, detail. Paris, Musée du Louvre
The Latin term collation began to be used in the Middle Ages to describe the evening meal eaten together by monks. In around the 15th and 16th centuries, particularly in secular environments, the word cena prevailed for the evening meal in Italy, which was presupposed to be the main meal involving more food preparation. Collation was used in France to indicate a quick light meal. In Italy today, particularly in hotels, if wanting to associate the Italian term colazione with the first meal of the day, the expression prima colazione is used.
It was in the 18th century that the custom of breakfast became established, together with the habit of consuming hot drinks in the morning accompanied by biscuits. At the time, breakfast was an aristocratic custom and pictorial records often show it being served directly in the bedroom or in the small breakfast rooms typical of stately homes. In 18th-century paintings, precisely because of its aristocratic rituality, this habit appears to make specific reference to the environment to which they belong, mirroring exclusive tastes and customs. In 19th-century painting, breakfast seems to fall within the artistic celebration of domestic intimacy, as a family ritual of the wealthy industrial and financial middle classes.
