Portrait of a young woman by Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (1774 - 1833)Guérin is not considered an erotic painter. He was a highly respected artist in his time, and most of his paintings were of grand historical subjects. So I was very surprised to see this painting by him at the now sadly retired Jahsonic blog--and also quite taken by it. It's gorgeous, isn't it?
There's a fine line between innocence and eroticism. In this painting, the eroticism rests in the position of her fingers. That's it. If her fingers were closed, it would be a whole different kind of painting. As it is, though, those beautifully painted hands highlight what they are supposed to conceal, and make her breasts fascinating and luscious and tempting.
Who is she? I don't know. But I can guess some things about her.
We're used to seeing women with elaborate hair in old paintings, so if you didn't know better, you might think she's a poor kitchen girl or something like that. But you'd be wrong. She's a trendsetter, a rebel. Knowing that Guérin's is French, and that he painted during the revolutionary period, I'm willing to bet all my donuts that this girl is a Merveilleuse.
During the French revolutionary period, rebellious young people began to wear outrageous clothing that mocked both the excesses of the old regime, and the restrictions of the new ones. The men called themselves Encroyables (The Incredibles) and looked like dandies on acid. The women were the Merveilleuses (the Marvelous Ones). They cropped their hair so they'd look like they were on their way to the guillotine, and wore transparent, Grecian style dresses.
It seems to me a Marveilleuse would love to be painted toplesss, glorying in her brutally cropped hair. Far from being simple, the girl painted above was a rebellious, priviledged wild child who ran in a pack of immodest cropped-haired girls and dangerously frivolous dandy-boys.
So yes, for ever and for always people have wondered "Just what in the hell are those kids wearing???"
Here's a little article on The Incroyables and the Merveilleuses if you want to learn more. And here's another one with pictures.
There's a fine line between innocence and eroticism. In this painting, the eroticism rests in the position of her fingers. That's it. If her fingers were closed, it would be a whole different kind of painting. As it is, though, those beautifully painted hands highlight what they are supposed to conceal, and make her breasts fascinating and luscious and tempting.
Who is she? I don't know. But I can guess some things about her.
We're used to seeing women with elaborate hair in old paintings, so if you didn't know better, you might think she's a poor kitchen girl or something like that. But you'd be wrong. She's a trendsetter, a rebel. Knowing that Guérin's is French, and that he painted during the revolutionary period, I'm willing to bet all my donuts that this girl is a Merveilleuse.
During the French revolutionary period, rebellious young people began to wear outrageous clothing that mocked both the excesses of the old regime, and the restrictions of the new ones. The men called themselves Encroyables (The Incredibles) and looked like dandies on acid. The women were the Merveilleuses (the Marvelous Ones). They cropped their hair so they'd look like they were on their way to the guillotine, and wore transparent, Grecian style dresses.
It seems to me a Marveilleuse would love to be painted toplesss, glorying in her brutally cropped hair. Far from being simple, the girl painted above was a rebellious, priviledged wild child who ran in a pack of immodest cropped-haired girls and dangerously frivolous dandy-boys.
So yes, for ever and for always people have wondered "Just what in the hell are those kids wearing???"
Here's a little article on The Incroyables and the Merveilleuses if you want to learn more. And here's another one with pictures.
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