(For a clothing-related painting, you get a post that is chock-full of clothing-related quotes!) IV: Pamela Preparing to Go Home, Joseph Highmore, 1743-4; National Gallery of Victoria 1115-3 A little recap: in the first few letters, Mr. B was very generous with his late mother's things. (Letter VI) My master has been very kind since … Continue reading Painting Costume Analysis : Pamela Series, Part Four
Category: portrait analysis
Painting Costume Analysis: Pamela Series, Part Three
III: Pamela Fainting, Joseph Highmore, 1743-4; National Gallery of Victoria 1114-3 This painting depicts one of Mr. B's nighttime attempts on Pamela's virtue. He was hidden in the room and waited as Pamela undressed for bed: (Letter XXV) I pulled off my stays, and my stockings, and all my clothes to an under-petticoat; and then … Continue reading Painting Costume Analysis: Pamela Series, Part Three
Painting Costume Analysis: Pamela Series, Part Two
II: Pamela and Mr. B in the Summerhouse, Joseph Highmore, 1743-4; Fitzwilliam Museum M.Add.6 After the first letter, Mr. B began to make presents to Pamela of his late mother's clothes. As the kind housekeeper, Mrs. Jervis (who is "a gentlewoman born, though she has had misfortunes"), told her that she was so pretty any … Continue reading Painting Costume Analysis: Pamela Series, Part Two
Painting Costume Analysis: Pamela Series, Part One
The novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, by Samuel Richardson, holds a special place in the western literary canon, as it marks the transition between adventure novels and character-based novels, and was extremely popular in its day, but it is now largely unknown outside of English literature classes. The story is told in epistolary form, through … Continue reading Painting Costume Analysis: Pamela Series, Part One
Portrait: Euphemia White Van Rensselaer
My next portrait costume analysis is of Euphemia White Van Rensselaer, by George P. A. Healy. 1842; MMA 23.102 Euphemia was the third daughter and eighth child of Stephen Van Rensselaer III and his second wife, Cornelia Paterson Van Rensselaer (the daughter of a former governor of New Jersey). The Van Rensselaers were the premier … Continue reading Portrait: Euphemia White Van Rensselaer
Mimic of Modes 