Her Shoes Are Good, So She’s Good
You’ve just got to flat-out admire the poise of the beautiful lady at the visual center of this artwork. Notwithstanding the five weird rich dudes that are fawning all over her, she’s got control of the scene and she’s clearly on top of the situation. Every line says “What? My shoes are fine tonight, and what else matters when a girl’s in great shoes?”
That said, I’m worried about the oddfellow waving the big lollipop on the left. And the bro on the right who dressed for a toga party when it isn’t toga party night? That’s never good. There’s so much potential for this party to go downhill. But she’s wearing the great shoes, and she’s good!
The artwork comes from a 1948 edition of La Vie Des Dames Galantes (something like “The Lives Of The Gallant Ladies”) which is said to be the most-commonly-reprinted portion of Mémoires de Brantôme. The artist is, of course, Paul Emile Bécat.
Update: Apparently I am rather bad at royalty-spotting. From a source I am inclined to trust, we have this:
I love this. From the left we've got Queen Elizabeth, King Francis, pretty lady, not sure offhand, Charles V, and prolly Caesar? 4 dudebros, 2 ladies, who is the guy in red?
— Delta Of Venus (@Delta_ofVenus) March 20, 2018
Another update: Commenter raymouleur says (with supporting links):
“trois rois de FRANCE:Henri III et son bilboquet, François 1er et Louis XI et son chapeau à médailles. Puis Charles QUINT(reconnaissable à son menton prognathe) et un empereur romain.”
From that I make (with the help of Google Translate):
Three kings of FRANCE: Henry III and his cup, François 1st and Louis XI and his hat with medals. Then [Emperor] Charles V (recognizable by his overshot chin) and a Roman emperor.
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The translation seems fine, although I have the sense that the French adjective galant carries more a sense of the amatory or even the erotic than English “gallant.” Part of the definition offered in the Trésor de la langue française informatisé appears to support my understanding:
Of course, that interpretation seems entirely consistent with the subject matter of the post.
These are the sorts of comments I write when I’ve had too much absinthe before bedtime, like right now.
Looks like the most important fellow (holding the lady) is the king Francis 1 (“François 1er”): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France#/media/File:Francis1-1.jpg
Perhaps I’m reading too much into the different clothing styles, but is the guy with the feathered hat England, the guy in Orange and Green Venice, the toga guy is probably Rome/Italy, which makes the lady France? Or is this just something that’s commonly known about this artwork?
trois rois de FRANCE:Henri III et son bilboquet, François 1er et Louis XI et son chapeau à médailles.Puis Charles QUINT(reconnaissable à son menton prognathe) et un empereur romain
http://gayinflu....html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_XI_(King_of_France).jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Emperor_charles_v.png