Sophie Crouzet
Medium
oil on fabric
Dimensions
unframed: 81.2 × 65 cm · framed: 101 × 85.5 × 12.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Grace Rainey Rogers Fund
Accession Number
1943.659
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
The sitter's dress deliberately evokes ancient Roman costume. However, the white muslin and straightforward cut also derives from earlier English fashions that favored simplicity in contrast to the elaborate, colorful clothing favored earlier in the 1700s. The transparency of her dress also carries political and cultural meaning: during the French Revolution in 1789, costume began to signify political allegiance, a sign of the character of the person who wore it. For women, transparency became i...