Madam X

She was a diva of Parisian society in the 17th century. Virginie Amelie Gautreau a Louisiana-born wife of a prominent French banker who became one of the great beauties of her day.

Along came the soon to be famous portrait artist John Singer Sargents, who begged to paint Amalie’s portrait to hang in the grand salon of Paris in 1884. It was the second and last year Sargent would show at the salon, and because of his previous showing, he did not have to have his portraits reviewed before the show.

It was the first time in the history of portraits and the salon that a female subject had been painted in a strapless dress. Instead of society falling in love with Amile’s portrait and advancing her social position she was vilified. Critics lashed out calling the strapless dress on the scantily clad lady scandalous and almost overnight destroyed two lives, the artist and the sitter of the portrait. Amile never attained the position in Parisian Society she yearned for and retired to Brittney while Sargent went into self-imposed exile in England and rarely returned to France. The painting has become known as Madam X and now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

So why is this molding called Madam X? The crossed torches make an X, the casting is an original French bronze from the period that the picture was painted in, and I was reading the book about the painting Madame X when I acquired the bronze.

Simply put, it’s just the way my mind is wired 🙂

xoxo Lydia

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