And so, last night, I was looking through some Civil War history books, as well as a wonderful "history of fashion" book I have had for too many years, published in 1966. Dress is shown mostly chronologically, ending with the current "hippie"/Carnaby Street fashion. Some geometric dresses, some Courreges! Wow! That's over 40 years ago now.
Anyway, while I was thumbing through, I noticed a marvelous, if not scandalous, painting of Madame Recamier, painted by Francoise Gerard in 1802. The painting now hangs in the Musee Carnavalet in Paris, though not the Louvre. Her dress is the Chemise, which must have been quite liberating in response to the trussed up look of the day. It was an homage to the "grecque", and the obsession with the classical. Her gown is very diaphanous, quite revealing, and a shawl replaces the structured jacket. Notice she wears no shoes and no voluminous wig! Ah! A sigh of relief.
She was born Jeanne Francois Julie Adelaide in Lyons in 1777. Her father was a banker. She was married at age 15 to a man three times her age, a wealthy banker named Jacque Recamier. She was considered the beauty of the age, and she hosted men of genius, literature and politics at their lovely home. Again, another portrait (1800) by Jacque Louis David pictured on a chaise lounge is the painting the Louvre is honored to have.Her husband was ruined by Napoleon's financial policies, and after his death, she left Paris. She died of cholera at the age of 71. She had gone blind before that time.
But, while she was at the height of her exquisite beauty, she has left us with the suggestion that true beauty needs very little other adornment.
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