Framed embroidery portrait of a lady outside
Applied Arts
2020.2.26.10.AA.DC.C1855.GB
Description
Embroidered painting representing a young woman wearing a white crinoline dress with blue jacket, a straw hat with red ribbon, sitting outside on the grass with a basket of flowers and a bird.The image is certainly inspired by the painting "L'Impératrice Eugénie entourée de ses dames d'honneur" (Empress Eugénie surrounded by her ladies of honor) by Franz Xaver WINTERHALTER, 1855. The painting was commissioned by Empress Eugenie de Montijo to be exhibited in the painting fair of the 1855 Universal Exposition.
The reception of the painting was mixed. Parisian critics did not fail to emphasize the sloppy aspect of the painting and criticize it for being too interested in the details of the dresses more than in the characters of its persons represented. On the other hand, it met the great success of the general public as well as the circles of the imperial court, the painting symbolized the splendors of the new regime. It was then exhibited at the Kunstverein in Vienna in 1856. Widely distributed around the world in the form of prints, it became the symbol of the imperial splendours.
Materials
Wool threadCotton
Wood
Glass
Origin
vers 1855 United KingdomDimensions
Length : 25 cmHeight : 23.5 cm