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Abstract

This engraving shows a noble couple posed before an elaborately ornamented Christian altar against the backdrop of Baroque-era gardens. Two hands extending from clouds in the heavens offer the wedding rings to the bride and groom. Whereas nobles in pre-Revolutionary France were known for their decadence and loose morals, eighteenth-century German aristocrats had a better reputation and were thus in a position to model marital virtues for the common reader.

The Sanctity of Marriage (1750)

Source

Source: Copperplate engraving by an unknown artist published in the 1750 edition of Franz Philipp Florinus, Oeconomus prudens et legalis. Oder Der kluge und rechtsverständige Haus-Vater [Oeconomus prudens et legalis. Or the Generally Prudent and Judicious Housemaster].
bpk-Bildagentur, image number 20008450. For rights inquiries, please contact Art Resource at requests@artres.com (North America) or bpk-Bildagentur at kontakt@bpk-bildagentur.de (for all other countries).

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