Pen and black ink and wash over black chalkexpand_more
Gift of funds from David M. Danielsexpand_more 65.43.1
This costume study for a civil official exemplifies the French Revolution’s utopian spirit. The Committee of Public Safety assigned Jacques-Louis David the ambitious task of reinventing the way French people dressed. He was to design clothes “more appropriate to republican morals and to the character of the Revolution,” not just for government officials and the military but for the average French citizen as well. David completed the commission swiftly, producing a series of sharply drawn studies representing fanciful ensembles that blended influences of antique sculpture, military regalia, and theater.
John Moore, a Scotsman briefly residing in Paris in 1792, described David’s fashion designs—and their first fashion victims—in his journal.
"Part of this dress is already adopted by many; but I have only seen one person in public completely equipped with the whole; and as he had managed it, his appearance was rather fantastical. . . . He is a tall man, and of a very warlike figure; I took him for a Major of Dragoons at least: on enquiry I find he is a miniature painter."
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