La promenade du soir

Francois-Robert Ingouf after Sigmund Freudenberger

National Gallery of Art

Printed with fine black lines and delicate hatching on off-white paper, a young, clean-shaven man and a young woman stand in a garden as another woman faces away in this vertical etching and engraving. The people whose faces we see have delicate features with large eyes and smiling lips. To our left, the man’s hair is brushed back from his high forehead and curled around his ears. The long hair is tied with an oversized bow or perhaps enclosed within a pouch at the back of his neck, or both. He wears a frilly cravat under a waistcoat and a knee-length coat. His breeches are buckled at the knee over stockings and buckled shoes. A sword hangs from his far hip, and he holds a hat with that hand. He holds up a tiny bouquet of flowers with his other hand as he leans toward the woman. She faces him with her hands clasped down in front of her. Her hair is pulled up and back. She wears a choker tied at the back of her neck and a gown with a tight bodice and flaring, full skirt. Layers of ruffles, presumably lace, cascade down from the elbow-length sleeves of the dress. She stands ramrod straight, but one tiny foot in a heeled shoe is slightly extended toward the man, mirroring his stance. The second woman is just behind her far shoulder. That woman holds a partially open fan and looks up and off into the distance. A thin dog standing behind the man’s feet faces away from us and looks toward the second woman. The garden is planted with flowers behind a trellised pen and trees in a formal row to our right, and a bench nestled into rosebushes to the left. A bust of a woman on a tall, square column rises up against a tree beyond the bench, and a house and gateway are on the far side of the formal garden. The print is engraved to look like a frame encloses the image. The delicate outer edge of the frame alternates inward-facing U shapes with short lines. Under the image is a plaque with fluttering ribbons at the top and garlands of leaves below. The leaves meet where a long torch overlaps a bow with its bowstring undone at the bottom center. On the plaque text reads, “LA PROMENADE DU SOIR. Jenues Beautés qui suyez l’esclavage, Vous pouves écouter des propos séducteurs: Mais d’un Bouquet n’acceptez point l’hommage, Souvent l’Amour s’est cache dans les fleurs.” Text under the printed frame reads “I.H.E. inv. S. Freudeberg del.” to the left, “A Paris chez Buldet rue de Gesvres” at the center, and “Ingouf junior Sculp. 1774.” to the right.