Description

Three figures are strolling in a park, in 1820; the height of the "Règne de Louis XVIII" as the plate announces. The final exile of Napoleon Bonaparte resulted in the restoration of Louis XVIII to the throne, bringing back the monarchy of the Bourbon. Gone are the high waistlines of Bonaparte's Empire; instead, the waistline has dropped almost to the natural waist. The woman on the left turns and looks directly at the viewer while the back view of her dress is shown. Her dress has a pale blue bodice that is snugly fitted and has a wide ribbon tied into a bow at the waist. The dress has a high collar with a stiff double layer of white ruffles, suggesting the ruffs worn during earlier monarchies. The dress has snug long sleeves with puffs at the upper arm. Around her shoulders is a small shawl with a pink, green, and yellow border in a pattern suggesting the Orientalist style. Her white skirt has a double row of white ruffles in scallops around the hem. She wears a white poke bonnet trimmed with pink flowers and greenery. The man walking with her wears a long blue cutaway tailcoat which falls just below the knees. The tailcoat has two large gold buttons at the back waist and at the hem. The lapels are wide and look to be black velvet or fur. The cuffs of his sleeves reach beyond the wrist to the middle of the hand. His white high shirt...

Record Contributed By

Claremont Colleges Library

Record Harvested From

California Digital Library