Jonge vrouw flirt met een jongeman op straat 1841

This lithograph by Paul Gavarni, now at the Rijksmuseum, captures a flirtatious street encounter. We see a young woman, dressed as a "débardeur," a type of Parisian street performer, playfully engaging with a young man. Consider the theatricality: her exaggerated pose, one foot jauntily placed on a bollard, evokes a Commedia dell'arte figure. This motif, of raising oneself to gain attention, echoes in earlier depictions of Salome demanding John the Baptist's head, a dangerous desire veiled in performance. Yet, here, the tone is lighter, more akin to the bawdy humor of a tavern scene. The exchange, "A dozen oysters and my heart – Your word?", hints at a transaction, love offered with a wink. The performance of courtship, like a recurring dream, resurfaces through art history, each time shaded by its era, yet rooted in our collective memory of desire and social interplay.