Portraits, courtly scenes, and historical textiles come together to explore the diversity of representations of femininity as they unfold in 18th-century depictions. The exhibition highlights the rise of a French style whose elegance captivated European courts and aristocracy in this period, revealing a history of costume that is both material and nourished by the imagination, as evidenced in François Boucher’s pastoral scenes and Antoine Watteau’s gallant festivities.

At the heart of this era, France established itself as the definitive center of refinement and prestige. Artists such as Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Jean-Marc Nattier, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun excelled at capturing both the brilliance of fabrics and the personalities of their sitters, endowing their subjects with an aura of both grace and power.