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2/18/02 The Meister - Pin-up girls of the Regency

Dear Folks,

I thought to summarize our intense study of feminine beauty in Jane Austen's time. Men are pigs. I should say our study "so far." I enjoy preparing all my posts, but, perhaps, this particular one most of all. Men are pigs.

Let us start with the self portraits of a French portrait artist, Elizabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842).

1782	1781
	1789
1790

Whoa! not a bad start! You can read about her in several places here and online. You can start here and link to other local postings, and then go there for online links.

Next, we ponder a favorite model of Le Brun, Lady Hamilton (Emma Lyons: 1765?-1815). Actually, Lady Hamilton was the favorite of a number of painters, begin with le Brun's.

Sketch on a door of the summer house of Sir William Hamilton	Lady H in the "attitude" of the Persian Sybil, and ...
... in the "attitude" of Ariadne, and ...
... in the "attitude" of a Bacchante

"Attitudes" were dramatic posings then considered an art form. Lady Hamilton would sometimes perform her art for guests.

And then there are these portraits of Lady Hamilton by George Romney. He also captured some of the artistic "attitudes".

Lady H in the "attitude" of Circe, and in ...
... the "attitude" of Miranda, and in ...	... the "attitude" of Nature
Lady Hamilton in 1785

Lady Hamilton enters our story because she was the mistress of Lord Admiral Nelson. You can start here for other links to interesting commentary on that Lady. Lady Hamilton had training as an actress when she was the working-class "Emma Lyons". One wag said of her that, "she was not quite an actress much as she was not quite a prostitute."

I conclude with portraits of some miscellaneous hotties.

Mrs. Davies Davenport Portrait by George Romney
The radical feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) Portrait by Opie	Silhouette of Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra Austen

2/17/02 unknown (Bree?) - Is this the twilight zone?

Dear Ashton,

Is this the twilight zone?  Today is Sunday February 17, and your latest posting is dated the 18th.  Please don't do this, as I can't afford to lose 24 hours out of my life!!  The pictures were beautiful, and also served to remind me of one of my huge objections to Emma-'96 - the portrait Emma did of Harriet.  They put Toni Collette in a Grecian dress and had her posed holding a trident, which had no relation to the scene described by JA.  These producers and directors can never understand that you don't mess with JA's work.  IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!

From the Meister: This is rarely the twilight zone.

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