Getting started with the collection:
‘You May Count on My Oaths’ (Comptez sur mes serments)
Augustin de Saint-Aubin (1736–1806), etching and engraving, 1789
Two lovers – actually the artist himself and his wife – bid farewell to each other after a secret romantic encounter. Roses, here as a bouquet in the woman’s boudoir or as a boutonnière on the man’s waistcoat, conveyed an unmistakable erotic subtext in the late 18th century. The compositions are framed in the manner of ‘peepholes’, mischievously turning the viewer into a voyeur.
- Artwork typeprint
- Object numberRP-P-1991-27
- Dimensionsheight 363 mm x width 263 mm