La Soubrette Confidente, Deciphering Love Through Difference

Abstract

La Soubrette Confidente is an eighteenth-century French engraving by Gérard Vidal after a gouache drawing by Nicolas Lavreince. The image depicts an interior where notions of lady-like behavior are emphasized–the acquisition of knowledge through the writing and reading of letters and the discussion of personal matters with trusted confidants. What is most intriguing about this print are not the actions of the women, their fashion, or the furniture, but how all of these elements are affected by a simple change in decoration: the addition of a painting of a reclining nude on the wall. The difference between the original and reproduction incites a series of questions that I will explore: how has the print and the two artists been considered historically; why were the changes were made from the gouache to the print; how did these changes affect the viewer's interpretation of the image, and finally how are the changes made by Vidal are related to the social and historical context within which they were made.