In 18th century Paris, the images of signs were intended to stimulate, amuse and inform through a sufficiently complex iconography to interest the great masters of the time. At the time, signs were an early form of advertising, intended to attract attention, establish a mental-visual association between the sign and the location, and attract customers. Signs marked specific commercial establishments and provided information about the nature of the goods and services found there. The iconography of certain guilds and stores was obvious to society and would be immediately understood. People used these signs to find their way around the city and were therefore an important part of their daily lives. However, the signs were part of a commercial culture and not a high culture. The painters of these signs were not considered artists of great value; nevertheless, a favorable public reception around a brand could be cited as an indicator of the imminent start of a successful career. This shows that the lowest and most despised painting could serve, and did serve, as an entry into the world of high art. Watteau's last painting, the Ensign of Gersaint, given to his friend, the image dealer Edame Gersaint, was an ensign. It must be recognized that Watteau's sign is, however, of a somewhat different nature. The painting transcends the boundaries of the commercial genre and is recognized as a true work of art. Watteau's L'Enseigne de Gersaint is one of the artist's most fully realized works. It is ambitious and sophisticated in size and execution, in terms of visual economy and content. It is therefore only a disguise under the appearance of a brand, of a category...... middle of paper......the works are interpretations or essential framings of received artistic and social codes rather than renderings of the natural world. In the Sign, art is also revealed to fulfill a function that it has always fulfilled in any society based on class differences. As a luxury product, it constitutes an indicator of social status. It marks the distinction between those who have the leisure and wealth necessary to know art and possess it, and those who do not. In Gersaint's sign, art is presented in a context where its social function is openly and consciously declared. In summary, Watteau reveals that art is a product of society, but it nevertheless reshapes past artistic traditions. But unlike other contemporary painters, his relationship to the past is not presented as a revolt, but rather as the grateful and attentive comment of an interlocutor..