The French Comedians

The painting was engraved with the title French Comedians, playing a tragi-comedy. The principal male figure wears an old-fashioned formal costume: a hat with plumes, a wig, and a fringed, skirted silver garment lavishly embroidered with palmettes. In the eighteenth century this costume would have been appropriate for a subject from antiquity. The heroine dismisses him, referring to the crumpled letter on the floor. The scene is imaginary as Crispin, entering from the right, represents a different vernacular theatrical tradition and in reality would never have taken the stage at the same time. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)