Minneapolis Institute of Art

Fashion Plate No. 398 from Journal des Dames et des Modes

Publisher: Pierre de La Mesangere

Date

July 9, 1802

Medium

Hand-colored engraving

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Musical instruments like the pianoforte, harp, and guitar remained fashionable accessories for women into the 1800s, even as public music-making became an ever more masculinized pursuit. Although the woman in this image boasts a carefully cultivated curvature to her fret hand, she is in fact holding the guitar backwards! Guitars are typically performed with the left hand on the fretboard and the right hand plucking the strings. This was likely a byproduct of the engraving process, which reversed the orientation of the original drawing. The fact that the image was still printed, however, shows that it was not intended to teach music lessons, like the musical scores in the Journal de la mode, but rather to highlight the instrument as fashionable. France, Europe

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