A public square in a French port, in which a medicine vendor cries up his wares to an audience of traders and strollers. Coloured aquatint by J. Léveillé, 1785, after A. Borel.
- Borel, Antoine, 1743-1810.
- Date
- [1785]
- Reference
- 811674i
- Pictures
- Online
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Selected images from this work
About this work
Description
The medicine vendor stands on the right, in front of his stand. He wears decorative clothes and holds up a flask of his medicine. In front of him are his props: conjuring equipment, musical instruments, tame animals. Among the crowd watching him are a well-dressed couple, he old and using a quizzing glass, she younger and surreptitiously passing a billet doux to a lover. Others among the spectators are from Turkey or the Levant
Right background, three wooden houses containing shops: left to right a coffee house (presumably "[Ca]fé"), a house advertising a tightrop walker ("Grands danseur du Roy"), and a shop ("Magazin de modes") selling fashionable knicknacks (fans, hats, vases, clocks etc.) Right foreground, some bales and goods traded at the port
Left, the port, with a statue of a woman personifying Hope and Plenty. Behind and centre, a substantial stone building, presumably a customs house
The medicine vendors' banner contains lettering "Par permission du Roy" and a painting of the medicine vendor treating a seated lady, possibly by laying on of hands
Publication/Creation
Physical description
Lettering
Lettering note
Reference
Type/Technique
Languages
- French
Where to find it
Location Status Access Closed stores