#madame x portrait

[resplendentoutfit]

Deathly Pale

The desire of women for ultra-pale skin didn't end with the Elizabethan era. In Victorian times, women still coveted the look of translucent white skin and applied the same causic, poisonous substances to their face, neck, arms and hands. Turbuculosis was a common cause of death in the era. The look of death was considered romantic for its tragic and poetic beauty. Even if a Victorian woman wasn't charmed by death due to turbuculosis, she still coveted pale, translucent skin. Tanned faces were the result of long hours of work out-of- doors, belonging to the lower classes.

“The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.” - Edgar Allan Poe

The two predominant beauty standards were the painted beauty and the natural beauty. The later was the preferred ideal of the average fashionable woman. The methods she employed to achieve good skin and complexion were all in an effort to look natural. The overly painted look was seen as racy - the province of prostitutes and "loose" women.

Upon a well-off Victorian woman's dressing table were arsenic, ammonia, and opium, among other toxic substances. The Ugly-girl Papers, Or, Hints for the Toilet was a book published in 1874 that contained a series of beauty articles for Harper's Bazaar. The author recommends coating the face with opium before bed and a brisk wash with ammonia in the morning. How refreshing.

Lotions containing lead were popular for whitening the skin as well as erasing freckles and other blemishes. Complexion wafers containing arsenic were widely advertised. These products were peddled to women as being harmless when, in fact, they caused headaches, nausea, and even paralysis.

To achieve eyes with a seductive gaze, Victorian women used Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade in the form of eye drops, which diluted the pupils. Eye irritation and even blindness were reported symptoms of this practice.

A little color over that deathly white facial palor was usually achieved with beet juice and sometimes, animal blood. It's intriguing to wonder how women came into possession of animal blood, though the answer may be as simple as a purchase from a local vendor. Vermillion, also known as red mercury, was used to tint the lips and was known to be poisonous.

Virginie Gautreau, the subject of the famous John Singer Sargent painting known as Madama X, was not only known to use products to whiten her skin, but was also purported to use indigo dye to paint veins over the ultra-pale veneer of her skin. I haven't found any sound evidence of this, however. What I did read in both The Collector and in an article at minsooki, was that over her arsenic pale skin, Virginie used a lavender powder to counteract the warmth of candlelight.

What's most troubling is that in the face of ample evidence of the health consequences of many of these products, women continued to value the look they provided, over their own health and safety.

References:

• Molly Brown House Museum: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder: How Victorians Used Common Poisons to Become Drop Dead Gorgeous

• Awful Forever

• Atlas Obscura

• minsooki.com

• The Collector

[artist-ellen]

Okay this one is a little silly. Who knew the painting it's a study of without checking? XD

Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent is a scandalous, super famous painting. This was mostly just for fun, running on extreme burnout with more than 10 mermaids to go is a tall order. Aka I tried to cut myself some slack here, pick something quick and uncomplicated.

(In order to finish enough mermaids to fill my self-appointed deadline in time I am not going to be finishing colorized versions of all of them. The amount of time it takes to color and shade just wasn't possible...which means only coloring book owners will get to see some of them until I get inspired to finish them up!)

I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram, tiktok or check out my coloring book available now \ („• ֊ •„) /

https://linktr.ee/ellen.artistic

[tumblerislovetumblerislife]

Portrait of Mevrautje Inej

inspired by the amazing fic Serves You Right by @linearao3, for all your undercover kanej needs, incl kaz being very into playing inej's servant ;)

[holmes-ja]

I did this for purely academic reasons and definitely not because I have been thinking about Good Omens non-stop. Or that I just think this look would really suit Crowley.

[weltonboys]

madame x - john singer sargent

[boppunkgreg]

Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)

John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London) (1856 - 1925)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

[chic-a-gigot]

Les Modes : revue mensuelle illustrée des arts décoratifs appliqués à la femme, no. 19, vol. 2, juillet 1902, Paris. Helleu. — Portrait de Mme X… (Pointe sèche). Bibliothèque nationale de France

[florsial]

Hear me out yall.

Jegulus Madame X painting story Au.

James is a famous painter who desperately wants to paint Regulus Black who is the heir to the Black Family fortune and known for his good looks, common within the Black family. But Regulus refuses every time until he finally agrees. Throughout the process of painting, James and Regulus fall in love. However, when James releases the painting named, "Heir X", scandal falls upon Regulus because of the way it was painted and he is forced to retire somewhere private until his reputation recovers, he does so, but doesn't tell James. Who ends up hunting him down they reconcile and yay everyone is happy.

I wanna write this

[sacredcyber]

Sargent study but make it blorbo related

[vicanvas]

Do you ever paint yourself an oc insterted into a classical painting and go "yeah, I want it on my wall"? Redbubble, I'm coming.

[the-cricket-chirps]

John Singer Sargent, Portrait of Madame X, 1884

John Singer Sargent, Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1888

[sugaryhoneymoon]

FINALLY SAW HER IN REAL LIFE AND SHE’S SOMEHOW EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL

[my-sacred-art]

Anna Lisa Wagner (German, born June 12, 1994)

Portrait of Madame X, 1884. John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

[emsartwork]

Madame X-Files

Master copy of John Singer Sargent’s Portrait of Madame X but with Dana Scully instead 

[lovisonnn]

One of the sketches for Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent

[cookiescr]

My girlfriend is so pretty… unrelated question do any of you have any favorite classical painting of a beautiful woman please and thank you