View of the Madrid Castle, near Paris 1764

Jean Jacques de Boissieu created this etching, *View of the Madrid Castle, near Paris,* sometime in the late eighteenth century. Boissieu captures the cultural and physical geography of the outskirts of Paris, contrasting the traditional lives of rural inhabitants with the grandeur of royal architecture. The image creates meaning through its juxtaposition of class and space. We see peasants at work and going about their daily lives in the foreground, while the royal castle looms in the background. The Madrid Castle represents centralized power and wealth, yet the etching gives equal attention to the lives of the working class. Boissieu lived through the French Revolution, an era where social structures were critically examined, and the divide between the aristocracy and the common people was becoming increasingly stark. Art historians might consult estate records, census data, and other archival resources to better understand the economic and social context of the period. Art is never created in a vacuum, and its meaning is contingent on its social and institutional context.