Video: What secrets from the life of maids keep the paintings of European masters of the 19th century
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It is generally accepted that the life of servants in rich houses in the old days was not sweet. However, artists of the 19th century unanimously refute this opinion. Lovely maids in the paintings of recognized masters of genre painting usually look quite satisfied with their lot. Moreover, judging by many of the canvases, they were not at all bored at work and were not exhausted by slave labor.
In Germany, up to the 20th century, the rules of the so-called family law were applied to servants. This meant, in particular, special requirements for respectful treatment of the owners:
(Art. 4200-4203 Ostsee civil law)
However, artists, as chroniclers of their era, brought to us a completely different image of the servant. Among the everyday subjects of the 19th century, the theme of the maid is very popular, who secretly from the owners uses some of the joys of life available to her in a large and rich house: she finishes drinks from wine glasses, wiping off the dust, admires herself in the mirror, or even tries on the master's outfits.
Of course, one must assume that the girls sometimes still worked, because someone had to do all the household chores, and there were really a lot of them. Most often, we imagine a servant with beautiful feather dusters for dust, but in addition to this simple work, there were many other, more difficult ones: cleaning carpets and furniture, fireplaces that had to be heated and then cleaned, in some small houses the maids also had washing, and the hostess had to change clothes several times a day. It is not surprising that, worn out by hard work, the poor things allowed themselves to lie on the master's sofas or take a short break for themselves, near the buffet.
It is interesting that at the turn of the century, around 1900, there were so many servants that in England, for example, according to statistics, there were more people working in this industry than farmers or factory workers - about 1.5 million. Considering that usually at that time the servants not only received a salary, but also lived and ate in the house, these "jobs" were willingly taken by young people who came from villages and small towns to megalopolises. The fashion for a large number of personnel, which was then prevalent among the privileged classes, thus contributed to an increasing urbanization - a huge number of former farm children turned into maids, cooks, grooms and gardeners.
Living in the same house with the owners and taking their troubles to heart, as if they were their own, is it any wonder that the girls sometimes suffered from excessive curiosity and sought to learn some secrets - from the fact that they brought it in beautiful bags from the shop, and ending with a conversation owners, who can still be heard from behind the door. If someone blamed the poor things for such sins, then certainly not the artists who captured them during these activities - after all, you can't really get angry with such cute beauties!
Well, and, of course, in their free time (and during work, it seems, too), these cuties, judging by the canvases, constantly flirted - if not with the owner, then with the male servant, for sure. It was not for nothing that in the city, living in a decent house, they learned good manners and graceful handling.
Of course, there are old canvases on which girls are engaged in everyday housework, on some they even look tired, but nevertheless, brisk young maids, who, judging by the paintings, knew how to settle down well in any era, evoke more sympathy from the viewer.
Such not too tricky paintings are very popular with art lovers at all times. In the 19th century, contemporaries saw in them not too evil satire on common situations, today we admire everyday details that allow us to touch the past era, to feel it. There are many examples in the history of painting when an artist who does not claim to be a "classic" creates Graceful canvases that critics scold for being one-sided, and clients line up for them
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