BIO

My name is Erica Darcy, and I am a first-year FSU student from Daytona Beach, Florida. I am currently studying as a Studio Art Major with a Minor in Anthropology, and my research interests mainly fall between these two. This is reflected in my current project, which focuses on both portraiture and the fashion of 200 years ago.

What a Painting Represents: Fashion and the Life of Catherine Murat in 1837

Abstract

In 1837, French portrait artist Jacques Amans painted Princess Catherine Murat, the great-grandniece of George Washington and wife of Prince (and lieutenant-colonel) Achille Murat, as their paths crossed briefly in Louisiana. It was here that Amans created a neoclassical portrait, depicting Catherine posed sitting in an elegant fashion. Pictured in a white Victorian style dress, this portrait of Catherine represents not only who she was at the time, but who she wished to be as well. This painting’s details provide evidence for the culture of class in Tallahassee, and the representation of new European trends by an American woman. By researching the portrait of Catherine, this project hopes to uncover the induction of Victorian trends in American fashion, and also to uncover the history of Catherine Murat’s life that can potentially be told through art.

Keywords: Tallahassee, Portraiture, Fashion