Pink Silk - a historical nano tale

Hello!
How about a lovely little intrigue while waiting for my next novel to arrive?

These amazing paintings showed up in my Instagram timeline and almost immediately I saw a pernicious tale unfold. 
Why so and not a love story? Don't know. Maybe the maid? ;)
Let's dive into it!

Pink Silk

cupid statue

So much trouble choosing a seamstress, the exactly shade of pink to dye yards of pure silk, two quarters of an hour to perfectly attach the ribbon to her curls, new socks and a lot of perfume. Ready she was for his arrival, pristine in sweetness and loveliness. All of that was her pretty outside. Even more ready, as an arrow stretched on a bow, was her sharp mind & angry resolve. How dare he? After the trouble she had had wooing him for the best part of the season! After favoring him over the precious little short-legged marquee! Oh, the devil! She should make him drink the fetid tea her maid brewed! Even more: he deserved a whipping for refusing her heart's desire. It was something so trifle... Her ex-lover's fate! Politeness made her use the terms 'my best friend's new husband', but still, why wouldn't this rich fool pay for a murder?

Douce résistance - 18th cent. Wiki

* the end *
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This plot had a begining...

Mr Michel Garnier was such an accomplished artist that I had to compose a duo of nano tales, the images are so eloquent...

Jeune fille épolorée lisant une lettre - M Garnier, 18th cent

He has other paintings of women with their hands raised, either on raptures of joy or maybe, who knows, in a fight (also many women eavesdropping!). After a day studying 'Susanna and the elders', these powerful women were great to see. (even if not in throws of violence)

 

The departure of the dragoon - 18th cent

It's so rich in details, so many layers of information in each scene he chose to register as to make us wonder about how accomplished artists had to be before photography was invented and made available.

The painting that inspired me here, Gentle resistance, 1793, has several components of his trademarks as Wikipedia describes as gallant with subtle erotic air, lively and soulful - almost theatrical, sometimes moralizing but never satirical and are characterized by a meticulous rendering of costume and decor. 
The facial expressions of the people, the cupid on the mantelpiece and the “changeable” barometer on the wall signal that the discussion shown is despite lovers' struggles and grip after the bell pull. Ha! I spent hours trying to understand if it was a horse whip or the bow of the violin forgotten on the floor! It was simply the bell to summon the servants!  
Wiki compairs this portrait with Fragonard Riegel's Le verrou, 1770s.

wiki

Interesting, huh? Because Mr. Riegel puts the man in control, he reaches further and prevents her from calling for help. IMO.
Wiki says: morality is evident in this painting; with Garnier the passion is put in its place. While thrown away flowers lie on the floor, here - also on the right edge of the picture - a vase with roses takes the place of honor in front of the mirror.

This YouTube video has 18 of his most famous works...

...and in this book you find much more about French painters.
Mr Garnier who is believed to only have had proper training in his adult age. His first recognized work was a portrait of one of his family's former employer, the Duke de Chartres e  d'Orleans. 

And my next book is a lovely JAFF that also has a loooot of intrigue, some young girls shenaningans and sweet loving for Darcy and Elizabeth.

So... was it interesting?

'Young Girl Listening to a Conversation Between Two Lovers,' 1789. Wiki.

Read my other NANOTALES here.