The Young Seamstress 

Léon Bazile Perrault painted The Young Seamstress in France in the 19th century. The image presents a woman pausing from her work to look out at us, a large basket over her back implying that she is likely walking to or from a job. This naturalistic portrait draws on a long tradition of images of labor, yet, the scene is imbued with the sentimentality and the focus on the individual that characterized the 19th century. The emphasis on the beauty and innocence of the subject suggests the growing importance of individual experience. The image is a useful reference for understanding not only the economic conditions of seamstresses in 19th century France but also the rising cultural importance of ideas of youth, beauty and individualism. By consulting archives and other historical sources, the historian of art is well placed to illuminate the social and cultural contexts of such images.