Humorous genre scenes produced in the colour engraving technique and hand-tinted fashion pictures became popular in France — they accurately and authentically reflected life in the first quarter of the 19th century.

In 1814, after the defeat of Napoleon, the victorious Russian army entered Paris together with the forces of its allies. Worn out by many years of war and yearning for peace at any price, the French greeted the victors with delight, especially as they conducted themselves with such magnanimity. Louis Philibert Debucourt, an artist endowed with keen observation and humour, had already made a name for himself with genre scenes back in the 18th century. A Russian Officer Parting with a Parisian Woman the artist’s best work from a series based on Vernet’s drawing, wins its way into the viewer’s heart through the genuine warmth with which a moving subject is treated. The expressive silhouettes of the figures of the young man whose face is covered by his tumbling curls and a refined young lady in a fashionable poke bonnet with a brim that hides her whole face convey the bitterness of parting.