Discover the Subtle Details in These Paintings That Are Easily Missed
<p>Édouard Manet’s painting <em>A Bar at the Folies-Bergère</em> has long been one of my favourite works of art. I’ve been looking at it for years, but it took me a long time to notice one tiny detail that easily goes unnoticed.</p>
<p>The image shows a scene from the Folies-Bergère, a popular entertainment venue in Paris not far from Montmartre.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:500/1*rBOn4zPD6yq5EHgAUeJQDQ.jpeg" style="height:541px; width:500px" /></p>
<p>Detail from ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ (1881–1882) by Édouard Manet. Oil on canvas. 96 × 130 cm. Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK. Image source <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edouard_Manet,_A_Bar_at_the_Folies-Berg%C3%A8re.jpg" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></p>
<p>The tiny detail I’m talking about occurs in the top-left corner of the painting. Notice a pair of legs with green shoes on.</p>
<p>These legs belong to a trapeze artist swinging high above the audience. What I like about this detail is its humour and also how it suggests that a lively, raucous evening at the Folies-Bergère is now underway.</p>
<p><a href="https://christopherpjones.medium.com/subtle-details-in-paintings-that-are-easily-missed-985ccf345cd3"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>