Daybreak, 1774

NICOLAS DELAUNAY, French, 1739-1792;
after SIGMUND FREUDENBERG, Swiss, 1745-1801
Daybreak,
from the Monument du costume, first series
engraving, 1774
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 2000.10.3

The Monument du costume was a series of engravings from drawings by Freudenberg, illustrating the clothing and daily life of a fashionable young woman. A second series, designed by Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune, continued the story with scenes from her marriage, pregnancy and motherhood. Eventually both series were reissued with an accompanying narrative by Nicolas-Edmé Restif de La Bretonne.

Daybreak presents an eighteenth-century toilette scene, a popular genre featuring the process of a women getting dressed or beautified with the assistance of a maid or sometimes a male tailor. Such scenes identify the subject as a member of the wealthy class; this lengthy process (from muslin negligée to society gown to finishing elaborate hair and makeup) demanded financial resources and leisure time. The inclusion of the seated male figure, while not unusual, eroticizes the scene. The two figures gaze at one another, yet the association between them is unclear. Is the man a lover, husband, or casual acquaintance? The disheveled bed and the image of Venus on the wall invite speculation about the nature of their relationship.