5. A Feb. 1st 1816 print (published J. Taylor, London) which exemplifies the contrast between neo-classical vs. romantic styles of
landscape and architecture. This engraved plate accompanied Humphry Repton's 1816 book Fragments on the Theory and
Practice of Landscape Gardening.
8. Neoclassicism
http://www.wga.hu/art/s/schinkel/magic_fl.jpg; Queen of the Night, 1815 set design by Friedrich
A Neoclassical view of the heavens, where the stars are literally all in a row.
Marianne Dashwood in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is a famous proponent of the romantic aesthetic, while Edward Ferrars in the same book says "I like a fine prospect, but not on picturesque principles. I do not like crooked, twisted, blasted trees. I admire them much more if they are tall, straight, and flourishing. I do not like ruined, tattered cottages. I am not fond of nettles or thistles, or heath blossoms. I have more pleasure in a snug farm-house than a watch-tower--and a troop of tidy, happy villagers please me better than the finest banditti in the world."
One of the most significant events marking the turn from the 18 th to the 19 th Century was the French Revolution. It would define the next thirty years, and indeed century in Europe. The French were allies of the Americans in their Revolution, and many in France wanted the freedom and democracy that had emerged in America.
string of executions: Louis XVI , Marie Ant oinette , the Gir ondins , Philippe Égali té (Louis Philippe I I, Duke of Orléans) and Madame Roland , as well as man y others, such as pioneering chemist Antoine Lavoisier , lo st their live s under its blade.
Supporters of the French Revolution adopted elements of dress that symbolized their political views. The Red Cap of Liberty Trousers (instead of breeches) The Revolutionary Cockade
The Terror (or Reign of Terror, dated 9/5/1793 to 7/28/1794) was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution , incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins , and marked by ma ss execu tions of "enemies of the revolution." Estimates vary widely as to how many were killed, with numbers ranging from 16,000 to 40,000; in many cases, records were not kept or, if they were, they are considered likely to be inaccurate. The guillotine (called the "National R azor") bec ame the symbol of the revolutionary cause, strengthened by a string of executions: Louis XVI , Marie Antoinette , the Girondins , Philippe Égalité (Lo uis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans) and Madame Ro land , as we ll as many others, such as pioneering chemist Antoine Lavoisier , lost their lives under its blade.
By the end of the revolution and the installation of a government consisting of a Directory of three men (Directoire), styles had significantly altered.
From 1790 - about 1820s, it was a period marked in contrasts. The British were frightened that what happened in France would happen in England. Napoleon was hell-bent on conquering all of Europe. The British were just as hell-bent on preventing him. So, while France and England were at war, English aristocracy was emulating every French fashion possible, from food, to furniture, to fashion.
This continues the trend in history where the upper registers of society make money off the land they own but do not work themselves. These elite members of society, the ton, led mostly idle lives in constant search of new gossip and entertainment Most common for men to spend their time at their club White’s: favorite of the Tory Party Brook’s: favorite of the Whig Party Some of the more disreputable (but still acceptable as long as they were discreet about it) hangouts were gaming Men also spent a lot of time at Tattersall’s, an premiere auction house for horses This auction house continues to be the premiere auction house for horses, and still boasts the trade/selling of hundreds of thoroughbreds a year Visits (social calls, being “at home”), garden parties, Venetian breakfasts, walks, rides, and drives in Hyde Park, poetry readings--all daytime activities Evening activities would include parties, balls, concerts, the opera, the theater Shopping expeditions were a favorite past time of fashionable young ladies (and gentlement, especially those known as dandies) Excerpt from SLIGHTLY MARRIED: The notion that Miss Benning, Lady Rochester’s fashionable dressmaker, would cancel all her other appointments for the next few days merely because the marchioness was bringing her nephews new bride to be outfitted for her court appearance and for what remained of the Season, had seemed to Eve to be a preposterous boast when the marchioness had mentioned it during the carriage ride to Bond street. She had not really believed it. Now she did. The Marchioness of Rochester, she soon realized beyond any doubt, was a very important personage indeed. And today she had the full weight of the authority of the Duke of Bewcastle behind her—another extremely formidable figure. And Eve was the wife of his heir. She was also that rare client of all dressmakers must dream of wistfully all their working lives—the one who needed simply everything. Not a single garment of those few she had packed and brought to London with her would do for Lady Aidan Bedwyn making her debut in British high society. Miss Benning took one look at the carriage dress Eve was wearing and agreed with the marchioness.
Excerpt from SLIGHTLY MARRIED: The notion that Miss Benning, Lady Rochester’s fashionable dressmaker, would cancel all her other appointments for the next few days merely because the marchioness was bringing her nephews new bride to be outfitted for her court appearance and for what remained of the Season, had seemed to Eve to be a preposterous boast when the marchioness had mentioned it during the carriage ride to Bond street. She had not really believed it. Now she did. The Marchioness of Rochester, she soon realized beyond any doubt, was a very important personage indeed. And today she had the full weight of the authority of the Duke of Bewcastle behind her—another extremely formidable figure. And Eve was the wife of his heir. She was also that rare client of all dressmakers must dream of wistfully all their working lives—the one who needed simply everything. Not a single garment of those few she had packed and brought to London with her would do for Lady Aidan Bedwyn making her debut in British high society. Miss Benning took one look at the carriage dress Eve was wearing and agreed with the marchioness.
They looked through fashion plate after fashion plate, the three of them, selecting designs for morning dresses, afternoon dresses, dinner gowns, ball gowns,
carriage dresses, walking dresses, riding habits,
cloaks, pelisses—the list went on and on despite Eve’s intense dismay. She might be in town for only three or four weeks, the marchioness pointed out when Eve voiced a protest, but she simply could not be seen in the same thing wherever she went. Such stinginess would reflect badly upon Aidan.
And then there was the all-important matter of the court dress in which she would be presented to the queen. Eve soon learned that Queen Charlotte had some quite rigid rules about what was acceptable wear for ladies in her drawing room. The high-waisted, loose-flowing gowns currently in vogue were simply not allowed there.
Court dresses must be wide-skirted and hooped and worn with a stomacher and hair plumes and lappets, in the fashion of a generation ago.
And there had to be a heavy train too, exactly three yards long. Eve wondered if someone at court, some lowly footman perhaps, crawled from one lady to another with a measuring tape in his hands. And what fate lay in wait for the poor lady whose train was one inch too long or too short? Banishment from court and social ostracism for the rest of her life?
