Pierrot met worst 1774 - 1799

Jacques Louis Copia created this print, "Pierrot met Worst," toward the end of the 18th century. We see Pierrot, a stock character from French pantomime, gleefully holding a sausage while a woman gazes up at him, seemingly in adoration. Pierrot and other characters from *commedia dell’arte* were popular subjects in French art. The pre-revolutionary French aristocracy consumed entertainments about the lives of common people with gusto. But what did it mean to represent the working classes, particularly at a time when the social order was about to be overturned? In one sense, it's a form of escapism, a way for the upper classes to experience vicariously the lives of those they considered beneath them. Yet, in another sense, the obsession with images of the common people was a way to reinforce the status quo. To truly understand the meaning of this piece, we need to consult social histories and explore the popular culture of pre-revolutionary France. It is through these historical sources that we can understand the complex relationship between art and society.