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| Above: Madame Riviere, 1805-6 by Inges. Below: Madame de Stael by Gerard |
The reading of Paula Byrne's The Real Jane Austen
brought me to finally pick up Madame de Staël by Francine du Plessix
Gray. It appears that Austen passed up
meeting Madame S at one of her publisher's Mayfair
salons in 1812. Possibly the Force of
Nature that was Madame S might not have been Austen's cup of tea. But since we are all fashion obsessed these
days, who would have worn her shawl better?
Austen, with her fine shawl shown in a previous blog? Or Madame S, who
despite the fact that her father, Jacques Necker, began his financial career as
"a brilliant head of the East Indian Company," liked her shawls solid
color with geometric patterned borders?
Why are there no portraits of the fashion rebel, Madame S in
a paisley shawl? Perhaps as French
cultural historian, Dr. Joan Rosasco, points out, Madame was more interested in
imitating the classic drapery of Greece
and Rome. It might also be that the
non-paisley look was part of her anti-trend stance. Her turbans rather than wigs fit into this
pattern as well.
But who wore it better?
My vote is neither. In Madame
Rivière portrait, 1805-6, by Inges, Madame
R, the wife of a Napoleonic empire
government official, wore her shawl most beautifully against the whites of her
silk gown and muslin veil. Art
cognoscenti have called it a symphony of textures. JP
