Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

78
Andrea APPIANI
Italian, 1754–1817
Madame Hamelin, née Jeanne Geneviève
Fortunée Lormier-Lagrave (1776–1851)
1798
oil on canvas
Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris, France
Bequest of Mme Augustine Heurtault, great-granddaughter of the sitter inv. P. 1685
During the Directory and Consulate years,
with the fears and privations of the Terror
behind them, a new female social elite flouted
their wealth and delighted in wearing and
defining the latest fashions. Among these
ladies, who were known as les Merveilleuses
(the marvellous women), was Fortunée
Hamelin, a friend of Josephine Bonaparte.
A renowned dancer, Mme Hamelin achieved
notoriety for her public appearances in
provocatively see-through gowns, a vogue
which the Merveilleuses justified through
its adherence to the classical Greek culture
that was currently so fashionable.
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