Midday. A Lady Setting Her Watch

Art Historical Context

In the delicate etching and engraving *Midday. A Lady Her Watch*, created by engraver Gilles Edme Petit a design by François Boucher, glimpse an elegant 18th-century pausing midday to adjust her pocket watch. Rendered on a sheet measuring 12¼ x 8⅜ inches, this print captures a moment of poised femininity, with the lady shaded by a parasol amid lush surroundings. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Drawings and Prints department, it entered the collection via the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund in 1953. François Boucher, a leading figure of the French Rococo movement, was renowned for his playful, sensual depictions of women in idyllic scenes, blending lightness and luxury. Petit’s skilled etching and engraving techniques—etching for fluid lines and engraving for precise details—transformed Boucher's original composition into an accessible print, allowing the aristocracy's refined tastes to reach a broader audience during the opulent Ancien Régime. Pocket watches and parasols, key motifs here, symbolize the era's fascination with precision timekeeping and sun protection as markers of status. This artwork reflects Rococo's celebration of leisure and beauty, offering visitors a window into the graceful daily rituals of 18th-century high society.

About the Artist

Gilles Edme Petit|François Boucher (French|French) · 1694 |1703 –1760 |1770

French, Paris 1694–1760 Paris|French, Paris 1703–1770 Paris