Regulation or French System, Prostitution series

When the French state attempts to legally regulate the world's oldest profession.

Grasping the intricacies of the organisation of the French prostitution system between 1850 and 1900 enriches our understanding of genre paintings by artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, Béraud and Nittis. At that time, the profession was entirely devoted to controlling the deadly disease known as syphilis, -  from which most French artists and authors suffered  -with its specialised establishments, hospitals, registration system, prisons and police.