French purple and Marie-Antoinette
For a daily visual treat I subscribe to Paris Breakfasts, and today Carol has a post titled Le Pourpre et le Noir. As I note in my comment, First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy often wears purple, and the popularity of the color this year in France is probably no coincidence.To illustrate this post I chose a portrait of Marie-Antoinette by François-Hubert Drouais, painted in 1773, when she was eighteen and still the Dauphine. This is to my knowledge the only of her many portraits where she is represented in a purple dress, with matching neck and hair ribbons. The black lace streamer in the background leads me to surmise that she may have been wearing some form of demi-deuil (light mourning.)
This was many years before Madame Vigée-Lebrun became Marie-Antoinette's favorite artist, but Drouais, then the Court painter, captured the young woman's steady gaze and determined expression. If you have more information on this lovely painting, please chime in!
Posted by Catherine Delors at 11/6/2008 3:22 AM 
Categories: Carla Bruni,Francois Hubert Drouais,Marie Antoinette
Categories: Carla Bruni,Francois Hubert Drouais,Marie Antoinette
Tres belle!! Merci, I've never seen this portrait of her.
Reply to this
It's a gorgeous painting isn't it. And that sweet simple ribbon around her neck. Ribbons where actually quite expensive & Marie Antoinette didn't like the color orange.
Reply to this
Elisa - Thank you! Madame Vigee-Lebrun's portraits are wonderful, but I also like to post the lesser-known images of Marie-Antoinette.
Felio - Agreed, this is gorgeous. And yes, Marie-Antoinette, once her taste was formed, preferred white, and what we would call jewel tones: dark blues and especially deep reds.
Reply to this
What a beautiful portrait. Thanks for sharing the Paris colors with us!
Holly
http://www.wondersandmarvels.com
Reply to this
Any time, Holly! Not only the colors, but also the food, the mood, the weather...
Reply to this
How refreshing to see a painting of Marie Antoinette that I've not seen before. I've been doing lots of research on her and not come across this artwork. Can you tell me where you found it and what museum it is in?
Reply to this
Ingrid - This is a detail of a portrait recently uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, the source of many of this blog's images.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Marie_Antoinette,_new_Queen_of_France.jpg#filehistory
It is very similar in shape and style to a portrait of the Comtesse de Provence, Marie-Antoinette's sister-in-law, also painted by Drouais around the same time, and now in the Royal Palace of Turin.
There is no mention of a museum for this one, so it might be in a private collection. However, I disagree with the mention "Marie-Antoinette, new Queen of France." This is not consistent with the date 1773. Louis XV did not die until 1774, so Marie-Antoinette was still a Dauphine then. Or else the date is off by one year, this was painted in 1774, and we have a neat explanation for the demi-deuil...
Unfortunately this portrait was not part of the Marie-Antoinette exhibition last spring at the Grand Palais, so I was unable to discover more about this mysterious and fascinating image. This is why I was asking for more information!
Reply to this
Hmmm, interesting...
Here's what I would suggest -
The paint on this gown has faded, since real purple dyes did not become readily available until the 19th century, invented by chance by a British chemist toying with coal tars. So purple became much loved by Victorian women.
There were minute amounts of purple pigment made from a sea slug and used on the hem of Roman royal garments - the dye called Tyrian Purple. But an entire dress would be out of the question. it requires thousands of slugs to make the tinyest amount!
This could be a fugitive color that has simply faded from exposure to sunlight - a carmine or some blue that has turned.
Still a very pretty painting.
Reply to this
There is an interesting book on purple -Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World, on William Perkin's discovery of the first aniline dye.
" Before Perkin's discovery all the dyes and paints were colored by roots, leaves, insects, or, in the case of purple, mollusks. As a result, colors were inconsistent and unpredictably strong, often fading or washing out. As a result, colors were inconsistent and unpredictably strong, often fading or washing out. Perkin found a dye that would always produce a uniform shade--and he pointed the way to other synthetic colors, thus revolutionizing the world of both dyemaking and fashion. Mauve became all the rage. Queen Victoria wore it to her daughter's wedding in 1858, and the highly influential Empress Eugénie decided the color matched her eyes. Soon, the streets of London erupted in what one wag called the "mauve measles."
Reply to this
Fascinating information, Carol! This explains why you see a lots of mauve in Winterhalter's work. Indeed we take our fabric dyes for granted. Even white did not become widely available until the end of the 18th century, with the invention of eau de Javel, chlorine bleach. White mourning was reserved for Queens.
And, in the case of this particular painting, I like your explanation of the paint pigment that could have turned mauve. But then it would have happened to other paintings too, wouldn't it? This Marie-Antoinette is becoming more and more mysterious...
Reply to this
I am perusing the letters between Marie-Antoinette and her mother, the Empress and in May 1773 the King of Sardinia, the father of the Comtesses de Provence and d'Artois, died. There was a requiem Mass for him in Paris; Marie-Antoinette probably wore light mourning as a courtesy.
Reply to this
I believe you are right, Elena. Bravo for the sleuthing!
Reply to this