Le Billet doux

Nicolas Delaunay after Nicolas Lavreince

National Gallery of Art

The image features three individuals positioned centrally within the composition, shown from head to toe. The central figure is a man standing between two seated women. The man appears to lean towards the woman on the left, who is seated in an ornate high-backed chair and holding a letter or paper. She is elegantly dressed in a lace or embroidered gown with a headpiece or hat, styled hair, and focused on the paper. The man wears an 18th-century formal suit with a long coat, waistcoat, stockings, and buckled shoes, complemented by a tied-back hairstyle. The woman on the right is seated with her feet raised on a box, wearing a layered dress with intricate detailing and a feathered elaborate hairstyle. The setting is a richly adorned room with ornate pillars, archway, detailed moldings and carvings, upholstered furniture, books on a table, and a musical instrument like a cello. The walls showcase classical motifs and a medallion portrait above the figures, reflecting an atmosphere of elegance and opulence typical of 18th-century interiors.