Intro to 17-18C Ladies as Minerva a Goddess of War

Jean-Baptiste Santerre (French artist, 1658-1717) Philippe II d'Orleans 1674-1723 the Regent of France and Madame de Parabere as Minerva

Early artists painted their contemporaries somewhat like allegories, & often painters would put the faces of their patrons or sponsors on the bodies of the saints.  These came to be called donor portraits.  Allegorical portraits remained popular; and as time passed, they expanded to show the sitter as a Greek goddess, or muse, or nymph in in a rustic setting.  

These allegories grew to include strong portraits of Minerva wearing idealized attire, nothing like the clothing worn by real women of the period.  Dressing scantily or provocatively would have been frowned upon if a proper lady was sitting for a portrait in contemporary clothing, but if she were posing as an ancient goddess or muse, a little skin was perfectly acceptable.

Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom & sponsor of arts, trade, & war. She was born of Jupiter with weapons. She was fierce, and she was brilliant.  From the 2nd century BC onwards, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of music, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, & magic.

18C Women Around the World

Costumes de Differents Pays, by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (France, 1757-1810) c 1797 Hand-Colored Engraving from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

By the end of the 18C, worldwide exploration & colonization by Europeans were fairly commonplace, enabling the late 18C & 19C public to catch a glimpse of the clothing & customs of other peoples.

1700s Lady as Minerva a Goddess of War

1732 Jean-Marc Nattier (French artist, 1685-1766) Mademoiselle de Lambesc As Minerva, Arming Her Brother The Comte de Brionne

Early artists painted their contemporaries somewhat like allegories, & often painters would put the faces of their patrons or sponsors on the bodies of the saints.  These came to be called donor portraits.  Allegorical portraits remained popular; and as time passed, they expanded to show the sitter as a Greek goddess, or muse, or nymph in in a rustic setting.  

These allegories grew to include strong portraits of Minerva wearing idealized attire, nothing like the clothing worn by real women of the period.  Dressing scantily or provocatively would have been frowned upon if a proper lady was sitting for a portrait in contemporary clothing, but if she were posing as an ancient goddess or muse, a little skin & weapons were perfectly acceptable.

Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom & sponsor of arts, trade, & war. She was born of Jupiter with weapons. She was fierce, and she was brilliant.  From the 2nd century BC onwards, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of music, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, & magic.

18C Women Around the World

Costumes de Differents Pays, by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (France, 1757-1810) c 1797 Hand-Colored Engraving from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

By the end of the 18C, worldwide exploration & colonization by Europeans were fairly commonplace, enabling the late 18C & 19C public to catch a glimpse of the clothing & customs of other peoples.

Doing the Laundry Indoors 19C Europe & Britain

Louis Joseph Anthonissen (French artist, 1849-1913)  Atelier de repasseuses à Trouville

Armand Desire Gautier (French, 1825-1894) Woman Ironing

1869 Edgar Degas (French painter, 1834–1917) Woman Ironing.

1870s Edgar Degas (French painter, 1834–1917) Woman Ironing 

1882 Edgar Degas (French painter, 1834–1917) . Woman Ironing 

1887 Edgar Degas (French painter, 1834–1917) Woman Ironing

Edgar Degas (French artist, 1834–1917) Girl at Ironing Board

Francois Bonvin (French Realist Painter, 1817-1887) A Woman Ironing The Laundress

Francois Bonvin (French Realist Painter, 1817-1887) Woman Ironing 1858

Emmanuel Zairis (Greek artist, 1876-1948) Women Ironing

Max-Liebermann (German painter, 1847 - 1935) A Woman Ironing

Paul Mathey (French artist, 1844-1929) Interior with Woman and Child

 Louis GalliacLouis Galliac (1849-1934) Ironing

Ivana Kobilca (Slovene painter 1861-1926) Ironing Women - 1891

Pablo Picasso (Spanish-born artist, 1881-1973) Woman Ironing 1904

 Unknown artist English school, Laundry Maid c 1880

1893 Albert Edelfelt (Finnish Academic Painter, 1854-1905) Laundresses

18C Women Around the World

Costumes de Differents Pays, by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (France, 1757-1810) c 1797 Hand-Colored Engraving from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

By the end of the 18C, worldwide exploration & colonization by Europeans were fairly commonplace, enabling the late 18C & 19C public to catch a glimpse of the clothing & customs of other peoples.

19C Women at Markets - Camille Pissarro 1830-1903

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Market at Pontoise

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Market at Gisors

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Market at Gisors

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Market at Gisors

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Market at Gisors

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Market

Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Market at Gisors

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Market at Gisors

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Potatoes at Market

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Market at Gisors 

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Poultry Market at Pontoise 

Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Poultry Market at Pontoise 

18C Women Around the World

Costumes de Differents Pays, by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (France, 1757-1810) c 1797 Hand-Colored Engraving from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

By the end of the 18C, worldwide exploration & colonization by Europeans were fairly commonplace, enabling the late 18C & 19C public to catch a glimpse of the clothing & customs of other peoples.

Women Working - Food & Marketing in 19C France

Edouard-Jean Dambourgez (French, 1844-1890) A Pork Butcher's Shop

Edouard-Jean Dambourgez (French, 1844-1890) Cream and Cheese Merchants of Les Halles

Edouard-Jean Dambourgez (French, 1844-1890) Fish Auction at Les Halles

Edouard-Jean Dambourgez (French, 1844-1890) The Cheese Vendor

Edouard-Jean Dambourgez (French, 1844-1890) the Tinker Dealers of Les Halles

Victor-Gabriel Gilbert (French Academic Painter, 1847-1933) A Plate of Oysters

Camille Pissarro (Caribbean-born French Impressionist Pointillist Painter, c 1830-1903) The Pork Butcher 1883

18C Women Around the World

Costumes de Differents Pays, by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (France, 1757-1810) c 1797 Hand-Colored Engraving from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

By the end of the 18C, worldwide exploration & colonization by Europeans were fairly commonplace, enabling the late 18C & 19C public to catch a glimpse of the clothing & customs of other peoples.

Womens' Winter Hats - Edgar Degas 1834–1917

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) At the Milliner's

Mary Cassatt & Edgar Degas spent a lot of time together, both in & out of the studio. She would take Degas along, when she went shopping for clothes & hats. There Degas could watch young women shoppers & sales-clerks, as they moved about the shops & used their hands creating complex gestures necessary for making & trying on hats. She wrote that she had posed for some of his millinery scenes in the 1880s. It is impossible to know just which of the following scenes in millinery shops include Mary Cassatt as a model.

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) . The Little Milliners 1882

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) At the Milliner's 1892

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) At the Milliner's

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) At the Milliners 1882

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) The Millinery Shop

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) At The Milliner's 1882

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) The Milliner

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) Trying on a Hat

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) Woman Tying the Ribbons of Her Hat

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) The Milliners

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) The Milliners 1898