Jean Frédéric SCHALL (Strasbourg, 1752 – 1825, Paris)

Private collection, Europe.

Heavily influenced by Fragonard (1732–1806), who was a few years his senior, Schall was inspired by contemporary romantic literature, a fact reflected in his choice of subjects, which are dominated by graceful models and gallant scenes with more or less explicit erotic undertones. Thus, suggestion is no longer really called for here, as the elements of the composition leave little room for the imagination. In the intimacy of a pretty boudoir, the young woman is captured in the spontaneity of her gesture as she brings the portrait of her beloved to her lips. With rosy cheeks and her bosom exposed in this so-called ‘garden dress’, our charming model believes herself to be alone and has not bothered to conceal her neck with a muslin fichu (itself nicknamed the ‘lying fichu’ in the 1780s, as it was in fact transparent). Holding a letter in her hand, with a bouquet of flowers on a small table beside her, she sinks into the comfort of thick cushions, her legs apart. Beneath her petticoats, the clever little dog ostentatiously turns its gaze upwards. A stolen moment of intimacy, Schall turns us into amused yet tender-hearted voyeurs, captivated by this young lover who has withdrawn from the world to lose herself in the realm of love and passion.