Contextualizing Wertmüller's 1785 Portrait of Marie-Antoinette through Dress

Abstract

Wertmüller's 1785 portrait of French Queen Marie-Antoinette was a disappointment when first exhibited, a reaction partially explained by the conflicting associations surrounding the Queen's dress. This article examines the gown worn by Marie-Antoinette in the portrait — a robe à la turque — and its wider context in 1770s–1780s France. The gown, which was probably a real garment, corresponds to contemporary fashion plates and extant garments of the same style, whose distinct cuts demonstrate their connection to Turkish dress. The style's fashionability and formality is considered, as well as its role in the Queen's wardrobe and reputation. The turque joined other Ottoman-inspired French fashions in aligning with the Enlightenment ideas about simplified, unostentatious dressing that Marie-Antoinette embraced. However, the turque opened the Queen to criticism based on its fashionability, as well as connections between Ottoman dress, luxury and eroticism.