Elegant gathering 

Adolphe Monticelli created this oil on panel painting, "Elegant Gathering," offering us a glimpse into the leisure of the late 19th century. Monticelli, working in a period defined by strict social codes and emerging industrial wealth, portrays three women in a moment of respite, their elaborate dresses speaking to their class and status. Here, gender and class intersect, dictating the roles and expectations of these women. Their identities are visually constructed through their attire, a signifier of their position within the social hierarchy of the time. Monticelli's loose brushwork adds an ethereal quality to the scene, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Monticelli once said, "I paint to render the moods and feelings of the soul." In "Elegant Gathering," the figures seem to exist in a world apart, evoking a sense of romantic escapism. The presence of the dog is a symbol of wealth but also of domesticity and companionship. In Monticelli's "Elegant Gathering," we see not just a scene of leisure, but also a reflection on the roles, expectations, and inner lives of women in 19th-century society.