Oil on canvas depicting a young girl embroidering dressed in a richly worked dress and wearing coral beads.
Sewing, embroidery, and knitting are occupations reserved for women and to which they are almost exclusively condemned.
Since the 16th century, numerous depictions in painting of the seamstress bent over her work have shown her in profile or full-frontal (for example, in Gérard Dou and Velázquez), seated, looking either at the piece being worked on or at the painter.
Sewing is also associated with the symbol of morality, as well as with motherhood.
A girl enjoying embroidery thus testifies to the aristocratic distance from this occupation, performed for pleasure and not out of necessity. It signifies the elegance of the person as well as the high appreciation of the aesthetic gesture and the esteem for this art at the end of the 18th century.
This delicate portrait of The Embroiderer shows how art enhances women, in the elegance of her clothing and the richly worked fabrics, and in the delicate gesture that gracefully grasps the thread with her right hand.
It should be noted, however, that embroidery was considered a creative activity at the time.
Italy
18th century
Height with frame: 127 cm
Width with frame: 97 cm
