A reverse glass painting, France circa 1780

Pair of individual scenes which constitute a narrative whole between the two. Indeed, the two pieces present the same characters in different poses. While in one, the family group enjoys the outdoors, in the other, they run terrified in front of a burning building. Due to the costumes, we may link the figures to France, the scene of the fire could indicate that it is about the fire which started during the marriage between Louis XVI , King of France and Marie-Antoinette after the celebration of a spectacular fireworks display.

Painting under glass is an unique technique because the work is done on the back of the glass. While on a canvas we sketch the composition in broad strokes and then perform the flat areas of color to gradually finish with the details, in reverse glass painting we proceed in reverse. Contrary to the normal technique, to execute the details (the nose, the eyes, the flowers) before the background (the face, the landscape), the spectator having to look at the finished work on the unpainted side of the glass.

The artist should begin with the finer points of the work and ends with the backgrounds. So down to the smallest detail, the painter must imagine from the start the final version of the image to be produced, knowing full well that he will also have to deal with a "mirror effect" during the execution of the image since what is painted upside down on the right is right side up.