102 x 81.5 cm
125 x 106 cm with frame
Young girl with her muff, sitting on a Louis XVI armchair, a pedestal table on her right with a plant on it.
Juan Antonio GONZALES (1842 - 1914)
Spanish painter born in Chiclana, a town near Cadiz, he was a genre painter and a very good portraitist. He was a student of Rodriguez in Cadiz and of Isidore Pils (1815-1875) in Paris. It is thanks to him that he will exhibit at the Paris Salon.
The eloquence of the clothed body is enhanced by ornamentation, colours and accessories.
At first glance, the quality of the textiles or furs shapes the appearance; the garment becomes the body of the body as Erasmus defined it in 1530.
Fashion accessories and trinkets made a difference to men's and women's clothing from the Renaissance onwards. At the court of Henry III (1574 - 1589) polychromy in clothing was the order of the day, whether in the harmony of colours or in their opposition, each association being the object of a symbolism, most of the time not devoid of sensuality. It was at this time that the muff became an essential accessory, allowing the wearer to show his or her rank, depending on the fur used.
In 18th century painting, François Boucher painted a woman with a muff in 1742, which is now kept in the Louvre, and this accessory was used by other painters at different times: Madame Vigée-Lebrun also used it in one of her paintings, Marie Laurencin also used it in 1914 in one of her paintings.
