The Palais Royal-Gallery's Walk

A crowd of Parisians promenade in the Palais Royal, a royal palace whose courtyard of colonnades and shops was open to the public. The shops are filled with goods both to show off and to look with: ribbons and fans hang from shutters, while on the far right magnifying glasses are hung for sale. Similarly, some shoppers lean in to inspect goods, others strike poses to flaunt themselves, while still more look at one another, like the shadowed man who uses a magnifying glass to peer at the woman in the center. Controlled by the king’s liberal-leaning brother, the Palais Royal was a site of increased tolerance for political debates and prostitution. Debucourt depicted the modern street as a place to see and to be seen.