The Country Bagpipe n.d.

Jean Moyreau made this print, The Country Bagpipe, using etching, engraving, and roulette. The image transports us to a pastoral scene, a popular theme in art which allowed the aristocracy to imagine a simpler life. However, such works often glossed over the realities of rural life, and are infused with class-based and gendered perspectives. Note the central female figure who stands elegantly, while lower down a figure plays the bagpipes. Is she a patron, and he a worker, providing music for her pleasure? The expressions of the women and men watching convey a range of reactions. Some are amused, some intrigued, others look like they are uninterested. The image encapsulates an important aspect of identity during this time, the performance of class through leisure and social interaction. Think about how notions of entertainment and labor are portrayed, and what it might have meant to be a viewer of this image then, and now.