DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61284#0110
TROUBLE AND TRIUMPH
43
being the diploma work already mentioned (for which, by the way, the
models were two young friends of her own) ; the “Chapeau de Paille”
portrait of herself, and portraits of the Queen and of the King’s sister-in-
law the Comtesse de Provence, both these princesses wearing the simple
white muslin dresses known as “ gaulles.” Such a fuss was made about
the “impropriety” and “indecency” of representing the Queen in this
indoor costume—which some of the most old-fashioned or of the most
disagreeable people described as a “ chemise”—that the picture was with-
drawn from the Salon a few days after the opening. It is certain that
already, apart from the machinations of her enemies, the Queen gave
great dissatisfaction to a large section of the public by just such a dis-
regard of the conventions of royalty as this incident illustrates. Indeed,
while at Court she was disliked on account of the exclusiveness of her
friendships, in the town she was severely criticised for her lack of dignity
and neglect of etiquette.
Partly, no doubt, in consequence of the profit made out of this portrait
by the enemies of the Queen, it had a great success, and Madame Lebrun
recalls with special satisfaction an incident at the Vaudeville Theatre late
in the season of that same year, when a species of revue called by some
such name as La Reunion des Arts was produced. Her friend Brongniart
(an architect of repute) and his wife, who were in the confidence of the
management, took her to a box on the first night. Let her tell the rest of
the story : “ As I had not the least inkling of the surprise in store for me,
you can imagine my emotion when the actress representing ‘ Painting ’
came on the stage, and I saw that she was surprisingly well got up to look
like myself, at work on my portrait of the Queen. At the same moment
all the people in the stalls and boxes looked towards me and applauded
enthusiastically : I do not think any one could ever be more touched,
or more grateful than I was that evening.”
The unpleasant reception given to the Queen’s portrait at the Salon
by a section of the public was quite neutralised for the artist by this
pleasing episode, and was followed by no loss of favour at Court, nor did
the Queen cease to dress herself as a peasant when she engaged in the
pleasure of dairying at her village near the Little Trianon, making the
mistake of supposing, as an historian has well said, “ that in those days
a Queen of France could live for herself.”
It was not till some years after the much abused “ portrait en chemise ”
was exhibited that women of the richer classes could appear in public
43
being the diploma work already mentioned (for which, by the way, the
models were two young friends of her own) ; the “Chapeau de Paille”
portrait of herself, and portraits of the Queen and of the King’s sister-in-
law the Comtesse de Provence, both these princesses wearing the simple
white muslin dresses known as “ gaulles.” Such a fuss was made about
the “impropriety” and “indecency” of representing the Queen in this
indoor costume—which some of the most old-fashioned or of the most
disagreeable people described as a “ chemise”—that the picture was with-
drawn from the Salon a few days after the opening. It is certain that
already, apart from the machinations of her enemies, the Queen gave
great dissatisfaction to a large section of the public by just such a dis-
regard of the conventions of royalty as this incident illustrates. Indeed,
while at Court she was disliked on account of the exclusiveness of her
friendships, in the town she was severely criticised for her lack of dignity
and neglect of etiquette.
Partly, no doubt, in consequence of the profit made out of this portrait
by the enemies of the Queen, it had a great success, and Madame Lebrun
recalls with special satisfaction an incident at the Vaudeville Theatre late
in the season of that same year, when a species of revue called by some
such name as La Reunion des Arts was produced. Her friend Brongniart
(an architect of repute) and his wife, who were in the confidence of the
management, took her to a box on the first night. Let her tell the rest of
the story : “ As I had not the least inkling of the surprise in store for me,
you can imagine my emotion when the actress representing ‘ Painting ’
came on the stage, and I saw that she was surprisingly well got up to look
like myself, at work on my portrait of the Queen. At the same moment
all the people in the stalls and boxes looked towards me and applauded
enthusiastically : I do not think any one could ever be more touched,
or more grateful than I was that evening.”
The unpleasant reception given to the Queen’s portrait at the Salon
by a section of the public was quite neutralised for the artist by this
pleasing episode, and was followed by no loss of favour at Court, nor did
the Queen cease to dress herself as a peasant when she engaged in the
pleasure of dairying at her village near the Little Trianon, making the
mistake of supposing, as an historian has well said, “ that in those days
a Queen of France could live for herself.”
It was not till some years after the much abused “ portrait en chemise ”
was exhibited that women of the richer classes could appear in public