Allegory of Friendship (one of a pair) 18th century

Le Riche created one of a pair of paintings, Allegory of Friendship, sometime between 1750 and 1810. The paintings are oil on canvas. Le Riche was a product of the French Rococo, an era that privileged decorative arts and glorified aristocratic life. You can see this in the symmetry, floral garlands, and ribbons, visual elements that signal wealth, leisure, and refinement. Friendship between women was often allegorized in the 18th century, and presented as a model for social harmony and emotional connection at a time when women’s roles in society were sharply circumscribed. Yet it’s important to consider the politics of such imagery. Were these images of friendship truly empowering, or did they serve to reinforce social expectations? To answer this, we might look at letters and literature from the time period. By doing so we can uncover the social codes of the period, helping us to better understand the art and the world that shaped its creation.