Man naast een vrouw in haar bed c. 1736 - 1743

Nicolas de Larmessin the Third created this print, "Man beside a woman in her bed," sometime around the late 17th or early 18th century in France. It seems to satirize the excesses of the French aristocracy. A woman reclines in bed, seemingly nonchalant as a servant gathers coins and jewels that fall from a small dog. The man, perhaps her husband, regards the scene passively. The print employs visual codes of wealth and leisure to comment on the social structures of the time. France, under the reign of Louis XIV and later Louis XV, was marked by both immense cultural achievement and stark social inequalities. The aristocracy enjoyed extravagant lifestyles, often at the expense of the lower classes. To understand this work more fully, we would consult period literature and political writings and analyze the production and consumption of luxury goods to fully appreciate its critique of institutional norms. The meaning of this print is contingent on this social and institutional context.