Louis Metayer en Antoinette Bernard aan tafel 1790

Joseph Adolf Schmetterling created this silhouette of Louis Metayer and Antoinette Bernard at table. During the 18th century, silhouettes were an affordable and popular way to have your portrait taken. Here, the artist captures a moment of domestic intimacy. Antoinette pours tea while Louis sits across from her with a book in hand. The choice of silhouette denies us the specifics of their expressions. The blacked-out figures, while obscuring details, speak volumes about the sitters' place in society. By focusing on outlines, Schmetterling directs our attention to clothing and posture, visual markers of class and status. Antoinette’s elaborate gown and headdress, and Louis’s powdered wig, tell us much about their social standing. This image offers a glimpse into the lives of the 18th-century elite, where rituals like tea drinking were laden with social significance. The image prompts us to consider how gender and social status influenced such everyday interactions, and how these dynamics continue to resonate today.