The Picture exhibition at the Salon, Year VIII - 1800

This scene is an exhibition at the "Salon," a yearly state-run exhibition associated with the Academy, who dictated artistic taste until the rise of impressionism. The woman in the foreground is wearing a typical empire-waist dress covered by a shawl made of a warmer material, a necessity in the colder climates of Paris. Many women in the background are wearing wide-brimmed bonnets, another popular style in the early 19th century.