A Frugal Meal

Between 1886 and 1887 Alexander Mackenzie visited Brittany and on his return, painted Breton subjects, such as this little peasant girl. With downcast eyes the young girl gently blows over a spoonful of her meagre dinner to cool it down. Her position at one side of the composition draws our eyes to her food - a large soup bowl and bread. She wears peasant clothes - wooden shoes, a ragged skirt with a dirty apron and cloth cap. The crumbling plaster and torn picture on the wall add to the picture of poverty. The sadness surrounding the picture is relieved by the artist’s painting of the child as quaint and innocent.