Vrouw staat in raamkozijn terwijl een man haar hand kust 1823 - 1873

Célestin Nanteuil made this print of a woman standing in a window frame while a man kisses her hand, sometime in the mid-19th century. It invites us to think about the politics of imagery at that time. We see a scene of romantic intimacy, rendered in delicate detail. A woman is standing in a window while a man kisses her hand. Ivy grows around the window and we can see the crescent moon in the sky. The image creates meaning through visual codes: the moonlight, the natural setting, and the intimate gesture all add up to a scene of idealized romance. France in the 1800s was undergoing rapid social changes. The revolutions had shaken up traditional class structures, and with urbanization, new social mores were being explored. As a lithograph, this artwork would have been relatively easy to produce and distribute, and it would have circulated among a wide audience. To better understand this artwork, one might research popular novels and illustrations from the period. Understanding the social context in which art is made, and the institutions through which it is circulated, helps us understand its historical meaning.