“the Embroiderer”, 18th Century

Oil on canvas depicting a young girl embroidering, dressed in a richly worked dress and wearing coral beads.
Sewing, embroidery, and knitting are occupations reserved for women and to which they are almost exclusively condemned.
Since the 16th century, the numerous representations in painting of the seamstress bent over her work show her in profile or full face (for example in Gérard Dou, Velázquez), seated, looking either at the piece being worked on or at the painter. Sewing work is also associated with the symbol of morality, as well as with motherhood.
A girl enjoying embroidering, which thus testifies to the aristocratic distance from this occupation, done for pleasure and not out of necessity. It signifies the elegance of the person at the same time as the high appreciation that was made of the aesthetic gesture and the esteem for this art at the end of the 18th century. This delicate portrait of The Embroiderer which shows how art enhances the woman, in the elegance of her clothing and the richly worked fabrics and the delicate gesture which grasps with distinction the thread of the right hand. It should be noted, however, that embroidery was considered at the time as a creative activity.

Italy
18th century

Height with frame: 127 cm Width with frame: 97 cm