A Kiss Before the Journey
Departure on Honeymoon – Jules Girardet, late 19th century – Genre Painting
The doorway is grand, the moment tender. A young couple, dressed in the finest fashions of the 18th century, pauses on the cobbled step as love and laughter swirl around them. Painted by Jules Girardet—master of theatrical, romantic scenes—Departure on Honeymoon is a celebration of beginnings, farewells, and the elegant charm of another age.
Though likely painted in the late 19th or early 20th century, Girardet sets the scene in the Rococo past—a time of powdered wigs, corsets, and feathered hats. It’s not historical accuracy he’s after, but a feeling: festive, flirtatious, and full of life.
The Scene Before Us
The coach is waiting. A red-wheeled carriage stands ready in the street, its rear basket packed with boxes and ribbons. The groom, in rust-orange coat and white stockings, gently guides his new bride down the steps. She is radiant in white silk and a scarlet-lined cloak trimmed in fur. One hand gathers her skirt, the other clasps his.
Beside her, a masked figure leans in for a final kiss—perhaps a sister, friend, or confidante bidding her farewell in the dramatic fashion of the day. Above, from the balcony, a group of onlookers waves and cheers with playful delight. Even the little white dog at her feet adds to the sense of bustling excitement.
Girardet choreographs it all with a theatrical eye. Each gesture, gaze, and costume is composed like a scene on stage.
The Deeper Meaning
While this may seem like a simple depiction of aristocratic romance, it’s more than that. Girardet captures the emotional threshold between old life and new—the moment when one world recedes, and another opens.
There’s nostalgia here, too. By dressing his figures in Rococo attire, Girardet invites us to look back—perhaps not to history as it truly was, but to how we imagine it: refined, romantic, and joyful. It’s the same impulse that drives costume balls and classic novels, a longing for elegance and emotion unmarred by modern complexity.
And at its heart is a universal theme: the ritual of goodbye and the hope of what comes next.
A Moment Caught in Time
You can almost hear the rustle of fabric, the click of the carriage wheel, the laughter from above. It’s a painting that moves, even though everything is still. The young woman’s sideways glance, the man’s poised hand, the curious dog—they all freeze this moment like a memory captured in soft light.
Girardet gives us not just a glimpse into the past, but a glimpse into joy. Into new love. Into the simple magic of departure, with all its fluttering nerves and sparkling promises.