Just an everyday episode... Two young women have come to a halt at the entrance to a house as they wait to be received. The elder holds herself confidently. Overcoming her diffidence, she rings at the door. The younger is clearly embarrassed and looks at a tiny dog. Documentary precision in the recording of costumes and hairstyles of the period of the Directoire is combined in Boilly's work with a fine revealing of his characters' inner feelings. The composition of the painting, the refined colour-scheme and virtuoso treatment of elegant clothing betray the influence of the Old Masters, first of all of 17th-century Dutch genre painters.
Title:
At the Entrance
Place:
Date:
Technique:
oil on panel
Dimensions:
40x31 cm
Acquisition date:
Entered the Hermitage in 1931; transferred from the Sheremetev Palace Museum collection in Leningrad
Inventory Number:
ГЭ-6643
Category:
Collection:
Subcollection:
