A Moment of Meditation

Artist Louis Surugue (French, about 1686–1762)

Artistafter Jean Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779)

Date1747

Mediumetching and engraving on cream laid paper

Dimensions24.6 x 27.9 cm (plate), 25 x 29.2 (sheet)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineTheodore T. and Mary G. Ellis Fund

Terms

Object number2008.64

Label TextBased on the now lost 1743 painting Portrait of Mme. Lenoir by Chardin, this woman holding a book is modest in attire and well-mannered with her gently crossed hands. However, easily lost on the viewer may be the sketchy rendering of a languorous woman displayed on the screen—perhaps a secondary portrait of the sitter. Interestingly, the woman on the screen reflects the position of the viewer. The opposition of rigid decorum and potential impropriety emphasize the routine antipodal constructions of eighteenth-century French women. ProvenanceSusan Schulman and Carolyn Bullard, New York, NY

On View

Not on view