Kostuumstudie van een edelman uit de tijd van François I 1816 - 1881

Pierre François Eugène Giraud made this watercolor costume study of a nobleman from the time of François I. The France of François the 1st was a place of strict social hierarchy and royal patronage. Giraud evokes this past through costume. The image creates meaning through the visual codes of aristocratic dress. Note the nobleman's layered garments and the sword, all signifiers of rank and status. Costume studies were often commissioned in the 19th century by theaters and opera houses, which were important cultural institutions. They reflect a growing historicism, an interest in accurately representing the past for audiences hungry for historical dramas and spectacles. To understand this artwork better, we might research the history of fashion in the French court, the patronage system that supported artists, and the rise of historical reenactments and historical dramas in popular culture. It is in these contexts that the meaning of art emerges.