Minneapolis Institute of Art

Journal de la Mode et du Goût, Quatrième Cahier, 25 Mars 1790

Author: Jean-Antoine Lebrun-Tossa; Publisher: François Buisson

Date

March 25, 1790

Medium

Hand-colored engraving, engraved musical score, letterpress

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Before the Church was legally dismantled, the press— including fashion magazines―undermined its reputation. One issue attacks a priest for his unholy loves of fashion and women while his privileged occupation lets him skirt new military requirements. From February 1790, religious occupations and vestments were increasingly outlawed. The text identifies the woman on the left as a former nun. She returns to society without her habit, wearing instead a white linen gown like a “priestess of Vesta, ” ancient Roman goddess of the hearth. Her unusual “coiffure à la Passion” hairstyle reveals her emotional state: five curls that form a half crown in back (according to the text) refer to Jesus’s sorrowful final moments when he endured five wounds, one sustained as enemies mockingly imposed a crown of thorns on his head. Does the patriotic woman beside the former nun similarly mock her? France, Europe

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