L'Arivée du Courier (The Arrival of the Messenger) 1746 - 1797

Editor: So, this is "L'Arivée du Courier," or "The Arrival of the Messenger," by Jacques Firmin Beauvarlet, made sometime between 1746 and 1797. It’s an etching and print, currently hanging in the Met. The scene is, dare I say, quite charming, almost like a pastoral daydream framed in an oval. I see a woman watching a bird—perhaps the very messenger of the title—and a generally pleasant landscape scene. What sort of messages do you think it's trying to convey? Curator: Ah, a charming daydream indeed! For me, this print whispers secrets of Rococo sensibilities. There’s a gentle embrace of nature, but also this carefully constructed artifice. Note the ornate oval frame; nature tamed, curated, placed just so. The messenger, a dove, embodies that era’s yearning for both connection and escape. I can almost smell the perfume clinging to the letter it might carry. What emotions does the scene stir in you? Editor: Well, I immediately think of, perhaps, a yearning for news, the excitement of a message arriving in a pre-internet age. But also, there's a hint of melancholy, a woman caught in this still, perfect moment. Curator: Melancholy, yes! These Arcadian landscapes often have that subtle thread of longing. It's as though happiness is always just out of reach, shimmering on the horizon. Beauvarlet is inviting us to lose ourselves in the moment, to feel both the joy and the fleeting nature of beauty. It reminds me of how ephemeral life can be! Editor: That’s beautiful. I was so focused on the story within the image that I didn't fully appreciate the feeling it evokes. Curator: And that, my dear student, is the magic of art. It's a two-way conversation where our own experiences colour the canvas. Beauvarlet gifts us a moment; we in turn, breathe life into it with our perceptions.