Ramon Casas (1866-1932) "A Decadent Girl" (1899) Located in the Museum of Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain

Curiosity (1892) by Eugene de Blaas

Bernard Meninsky (British/Ukrainian,1891–1950) • Victoria Station, District Railway IWM • 1918 • Imperial War Museums, UK

Crosstown Bus, Richard Estes, 2018

Oil on panel 19 ¾ x 14 ⅛ in. (50.2 x 35.9 cm)

Paul Hoeniger (German, 1865 - 1924) • Moulin de la Galette • 1894

Concerto (musicians), Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), 1597

Ice-Skating in a Village by Hendrick Avercamp

Dutch, c. 1610

oil on panel

Rijksmuseum

Scenes et tableaux: Les Cancans, L’indiscrete, La Confidance. Series of lithograph genre scenes, circa 1835.

French School • Ball at the court of Henry III, Duc d'Alençon • 2nd half of the 16th century •

Bombastic ball!

The puffy sleeves of the Elizabethan era were not that way due to starch or stiff fabric. It was stuffing! And it wasn’t light and airy, either. Men and women would stuff their sleeves with rags, cotton, horsehair, and even bran. The trend went beyond sleeves, too. Men would also stuff their doublets so they could give themselves a larger belly – a symbol of wealth. This practice inspired the adjective “bombastic.” Then, bombastic referred to clothes stuffing. Today bombastic is a word used to describe someone who is pompous and exagerates his/her/their worth and accomplishments.

Young Brunette with dog and child, Nicolas Cordier, 16th-17th century, marble, Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Joseph-Marius Avy (1871-1939) "Bal Blanc"

An Invitation to The Royal Ball (c. 1880) by Charles Edouard Edmond Delort

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675) • Mistress and Maid • c. 1667 • The Frick Collection, New York City

Jeune femme lisant, Lucie Belin chez elle (Young woman reading, Lucie Belin at home), Édouard Vuillard, 1916

Oil on board 12 ⅛ x 15 ⅞ in. (31 x 39.8 cm)

Sigvard Hansen (Danish, 1859–1938) • The Dahl family in the living room at Moesgaard • 1920 • Private collection