Leaving the Ball

Executed by Netti after his sojourn to Paris from 1866-71, the painter depicts two social classes intermingled with one another. The extravagantly dressed figures are leaving a party during carnival from the previous night, while the lower class workers sweep the street in the early morning. Dust flies in the air along the rue de l’Académie de Médicine in Paris, where the scene takes place. The lack of picturesque details, and the contrast between the two social classes suggests a tone of irony more than moralizing implications.