Chilperik I bezoekt Fredegonde 1731

Bernard Picart created this etching, "Chilperik I bezoekt Fredegonde," around 1731. It’s currently held at the Rijksmuseum. The image presents a specific scene ripe with the tensions of courtly life, an environment shaped by power, intrigue, and the ever-present gaze of the monarchy. Here, Chilperik I returns unexpectedly from hunting and playfully pokes his wife, Fredegonde, with his baton. Startled, and mistaking him for her lover, she blurts out words that reveal her affair. Picart’s image, therefore, is not just a depiction of a historical anecdote, but a commentary on the social structures of his own time. Courtly love, affairs, gossip— these are all symptoms of the dynamics within the court. Understanding this work fully requires us to dig into period literature, social histories, and even architectural studies of royal spaces. Such research allows us to interpret art not as isolated objects but as complex reflections of their time.