Zinnespelende scène met jongen spelend op fluit en meisje met vogel 1727

This print of a playful scene with a boy playing the flute and a girl with a bird was made by Claude Duflos, an engraver who died in Paris in 1727. It gives us an insight into the culture of leisure in early modern France and how art was often produced and consumed within a sophisticated urban market. The image evokes a sense of carefree playfulness. However, the verse inscribed below the image suggests a more complex reading. The lines hint at the fleeting nature of pleasure and the inevitability of change, perhaps reflecting broader social concerns about the transience of youth and beauty. This print was produced and sold in Paris, a major center for artistic production and consumption. Archival research into the publishing and print-selling trade in Paris might reveal who purchased prints like this, and for what purposes.