The Wig Maker

The Wig Maker - Technique and Styles

619 The Wig Maker (Il Parruchiere)
(Pair to The Concert)
1748-1750
Charles-Joseph Flipart

The artist was obviously most interested in the late Louis XV fashion: collarless frock coats with wide sleeves, knee-length breeches, tightly corseted gowns with wide skirts, plunging necklines and magnificent sleeves. On the wall at the far end of the salon, papered in dark red, hangs the painting Solomon's Sacrifice to the Idols by Jacopo Amigoni, Flipart's teacher and friend.

Although painted in the Longhi spirit, both paintings - the Concert and the Wig Maker - show a French inclination to lightness of form, wrinkling curves, and complicated reflections on silk dresses. The overall vivacity of the scene is far from Longhi's abstract static paintings, and indicate the French origin of the artist.