Art Institute of Chicago

The Movings

Louis Léopold Boilly (French, 1761–1845)

Date: 1822
Medium: Oil on canvas
Culture: France
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago

This slickly painted street scene uses the housing crisis of post-Revolutionary Paris, which forced poor people to move frequently in search of affordable homes, as a metaphor for other “movings” in life, particularly the transition from life to death. At center, a carriage loaded with furniture transports a young woman with her baby while, to their right, a black hearse moves towards the ethereal Roman church in the distance. The artist crossing the scene, easel in hand, just behind the horse may allude to the transient nature of such work, which often included travel between Rome and Paris.

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