Vegetarian Cambridge students asked for removal of 17th century painting featuring dead animals ‘Some diners felt unable to eat because it was on the wall. People who don’t eat meat found it slightly repulsive’

Vegetarian students at a Cambridge college were so disgusted by the dead animals in a 17th century oil painting that they asked for it to be removed from their dining hall.

The Fowl Market, from the studio of the Flemish artist Frans Snyders, was on long-term loan to Hughes Hall from Cambridge University’s Fitzwilliam Museum.

The painting features a collection of animals killed for the dining table, including a swan, boar, deer and various game birds.

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However, a museum spokeswoman said vegetarian and vegan students complained it put them off their food.

‘Slightly repulsive’

“Some diners felt unable to eat because it was on the wall. People who don’t eat meat found it slightly repulsive,” she told The Telegraph. “They asked for it to come down.”

The painting was returned to the Fitzwilliam last December, and after receiving conservation work, is now due to go on display as part of a new exhibition, Feast & Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500-1800.

The spokeswoman said: “This exhibition makes the points that the debate about vegetarianism, about veganism, is nothing new. It dates back to the 1500s.”

The show will include a recreation of a 17th century Baroque feasting table, including swan and peacock.

4-metre pineapple

“While perhaps incredible – and indeed, offensive – to modern eyes, all of these birds and beasts were available for consumption by wealthy diners across early modern Europe, as made evident in Frans Snyders’ gigantic workshop copy of The Fowl Market,” the Fitzwilliam said.

The museum said the exhibition would “tease out many contemporary and controversial issues – such as the origins of food and food security, over consumption in times of austerity, and our relationship with animals and nature – thereby linking the past with our present, and encouraging visitors to question and rethink our relationship with food”.

It will include a wedding ‘sugar banquet’ comprised of spectacular displays made out of sugar, and an 18th century confectioner’s shop window.

A 4-metre tall pineapple installation will be displayed on the museum’s front lawn for the duration of the exhibition and illuminated at night.

The exhibition opens on Tuesday and runs to Sunday 26 April next year.