Alexandre Antigna’s Scène d’atelier (1848 Paris Salon) depicts the artist with palette in hand, turning away from the sacred work in progress on his easel to enjoy a break with his two models: his ‘monk’ is now playing cards with his ‘angel’, who relaxes in an alluring state of undress. The picture wittily addresses the shift to realism in nineteenth-century France, a shift accelerated by the 1848 Revolution in France, as numerous artists turned to subjects of rural and urban life that were often highly politically charged.

Dr Lois Oliver is Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute. She has worked as a Curator at the V&A, the National Gallery, and the Royal Academy. Her recent exhibitions include ‘Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery and ‘Jock McFadyen: Tourist without a Guidebook’ for the Royal Academy. She has created audio and multimedia tours for many of the UK’s leading arts institutions and has appeared on BBC Radio and TV. Also a keen violinist, Lois plays regularly with Kensington Chamber Orchestra and the Endellion Festival Orchestra. Lois studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, completing an MA in Venetian Renaissance Art and writing her PhD thesis on The Image of the Artist, Paris 1815-1855.