Still life with a lobster 1660| Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
No sooner had Last Supper in Pompeii drawn to a close at the Ashmolean in Oxford than a giant pineapple by food artists Bompas and Parr appeared outside the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge to announce the opening of Feast & Fast.
Inevitably some critics teased that the old rivalry was at work but given the universal fascination with culinary matters it is hardly surprising. Food and culture have always been intertwined. The 300 objects here do more than show the brilliance of tableware from a gilded rosewater basin used by Elizabeth I to the 18th century rabbit tureen in which the victim (presumably) stewed. There are paintings and manuscripts, recipes and notebooks, and lessons on how to get bees to return to their hives, too.
Until 26th April at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
