A Meal
© The British Library Board 1998
This seems to be a special feast. The tapestry behind the diners, like the surcoats and shields in the arming scene, carries the coat of arms of Sir Geoffrey, thus giving clear evidence that the people depicted here are the various members of the Luttrell family: Sir Geoffrey in the centre, wearing a hat with ear-like side-flaps, his wife Agnes to his right (our left), his daughter-in-law Beatrice to his left, his son Andrew to her left, and an unidentified woman at the end of the table. To Agnes' right sit two friars.
Preceding pages show the preparation of food for this feast: roast chicken, suckling pig and a cauldron of porridge-like cereal. This, like the arming scene, serves to display the family's wealth: note the silver platters, for example. It could be that this is a Christmas feast. Or it could be the feast held each year to celebrate the bringing in of the harvest. We can't be sure.
The Last Supper
In its composition this scene is very similar to the depiction elsewhere in the Psalter of the Last Supper, thus creating the impression (whether intentional or not) of a parallel between Sir Geoffrey and Christ - who, like Sir Geoffrey, has a figure kneeling before him.
Costume
© The British Library Board 1998
Note Sir Geoffrey's felt hat, with its turned-up ear-flaps, and the fashionable flowing sleeves worn by the two younger women.
Friars
© The British Library Board 1998
Next to Agnes sit two friars. From their black and white habits we can tell that they are of the Dominican order. The Dominicans, or 'Black Friars' are devoted to preaching and study. We know from the family records that the Luttrell family had two Dominicans attached to the household as family chaplains. We even know their names: Robert of Wilford and John of Lafford.
One of their duties was to chant aloud each week all 150 of the Psalms in the Psalter. Although they are sitting at the same table as the family, it could be that their vows of poverty forbid them from eating meat - in which case the white objects on the table could be hard-boiled eggs.
Diet
© The British Library Board 1998
The family are eating roast chickens and suckling pig, seen being turned on a spit in the previous page. As wealthy aristocrats they would have eaten a good deal of meat, including game, which would have been hunted on the family estate. They would have eaten very little fruit or vegetables. Note that while in this display of wealth the table is covered with silver dishes, the food itself is being eaten from 'trenchers' made of stale bread. Note too that, although there are knives and spoons on the table, the diners are eating with their fingers, this being before the introduction of forks.
The Serving Man
© The British Library Board 1998
From the evidence of Sir Geoffrey's will, made just before his death in 1345, we know that he employed at least twelve people, each of whom is mentioned by name. It seems likely that the figure on the left with the forked beard is John of Colne, Geoffrey's 'pantryman and butler', to whom he left a robe and ten marks. Note that he wears a purse on his belt: his tasks would have included buying provisions and paying the other servants.
