French engraving of the "gallant century" at an exhibition at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

MOSCOW. In the main building of the Pushkin Museum. From March 14, the Pushkin Foundation of French Graphics will present to the public engravings created in the Rococo era from its collection. The collection of this fund is one of the richest collections of the Pushkin Museum. It contains etchings, engravings made in pencil style, and colored aquatint.

These unique works of French masters fell into the museum collection from the famous collections of Russian collectors - Bobrinsky, Baryatinsky and others, no less famous. The exhibition includes 60 engravings, which first appeared in the exhibition hall. Since engravings are extremely sensitive to the effects of temperature and lighting, they rarely leave the museum’s vault.

Therefore, twilight reigns in the exhibition hall, where amazingly beautiful engravings represent the world of the era, called the "gallant century." According to Natalia Vedeneyeva, curator of the exhibition, one should not look for real events on engravings. Most likely, this is an idea of how people who lived during the “gallant age” saw themselves.

First of all, the term “gallantry” refers to relations between men and women, then it filled other spheres of society. Gallant could only be a man whose speech, manners and appearance were impeccable. Representatives of high society in 18th-century France, even dressed their dogs in such a way that they looked to match up with their owners.

Perhaps because the “gallant age” did not affect Russia, Russian aristocrats gladly acquired a French engraving depicting European life similar to a fairy tale. At the exhibition, engravings were combined into sections representing places where representatives of the French nobility spent their time.

Unique exhibits can be seen until June 1st.

Ludmila Trautmane © Gallerix.ru