Tag: xviii century

p-andore:

history week meme | day six: one art/literary movement or one piece of art/literature

A salon (in french ‘Salon Littéraire’) is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. The salon was an Italian invention of the 16th century, which flourished in France throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, under the influence of the Lumières (though they were carried on until as recently as the 1940s in urban settings.) These gatherings were important places for the exchange of ideas and often consciously followed Horace’s definition of the aims of poetry, “either to please or to educate” (Latin: aut delectare aut prodesse). They played a big part in the wake of the Age of the Enlightenment.

During the 18th century, women were the center of life in the salon and carried very important roles as regulators. They could select their guests and decide the subjects of their meetings. These subjects could be social, literary, or political topics of the time. They also served as mediators by directing the discussion. The period in which salons were dominant has been labeled the ‘age of conversation’ and The salonnières were expected, ideally, to run and moderate the conversations.