L’accord parfait

Unidentified Artist, French (Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune, designer)
L’accord parfait (Perfect Harmony),
plate 20 from
Le monument du costume, 2nd series, 1777
etching and engraving
Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ackland Fund

L’accord Parfait (Perfect Harmony) is an engraving from the second set of Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune’s collection Monument du Costume – a collection of engravings created and set in Pre-Revolution France. This piece complements the rest of Moreau’s collection by highlighting the moral and material excesses of the French aristocracy.  The ironic title sheds light on the potential infidelity taking place between the young woman in the picture and her music instructor as he lightly guides her fingers across the harp. The engraving perfectly expresses the idea of disunity within the false unity of a seemingly happy marriage.

~Bradley Kirby

An extended look at L’accord parfait by Bradley Kirby

Next