Luncheon on the Grass (Manet)

One of the most mysterious and audacious paintings ever to come out of Western imagery, Luncheon In The Grass can shock us even today. There are many things to love about it: the insouciant look of the bare lady, the still life of foods that were consumed, a tiny bullfinch hovering madly at the very center of the canvas, and no one has come up with a decent explanation of what it is doing there? Is it a symbol or simply an extraneous charm that Manet added for whimsy? Possets celebrates the Luncheon in the Grass with tea, lemon curd, biscuits, a bit of melon and a good whiff of grass, and just a very small gust of skin musk. Very modern and very alluring.