Rosalba Carriera (?) aan haar toilet 1721

Jean-Antoine Watteau captured this image of a woman at her toilette in a drawing made with black and red chalk. The act of grooming, presented here, is a symbol of vanity. Consider Venus gazing into her mirror, or Bathsheba surprised while bathing. This motif extends back to antiquity and forward into the present, appearing in countless variations across different cultures. What are we to make of the woman arranging her hair, her gaze directed downward, absorbed in her appearance? The emotional depth conveyed in the subtle gesture of adjusting one's hair speaks volumes about the subject's self-perception and the societal pressures placed on appearance. This can tap into our collective memory of societal expectations of beauty and self-presentation. The motif endures, not merely as a depiction of routine, but as a complex interplay of societal expectations, self-perception, and the timeless human fascination with one's own image.