Sunday, March 28, 2010

Yay or Nay? Giovanna Baccelli

Once again kindness was bestowed upon our subject, in this case, Mrs. Boardman. She was greeted with a Yay, but still got many slaps on the wrist for clashing with her drapery. Bad play Mrs. B! Will you be just as kind this week with something more whimsical? We shall see.

Thomas Gainsborough paints Giovanna Baccelli in her pastoral costumes for the ballet, Les Amants Surpris (The Surprised Lovers).

[Tate]

24 comments:

  1. Charming! This gets a yay from me, very sweet!

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  2. Yay from me, I think her costume is beautiful. Though I wish it were several inches longer, then it would be perfect.

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  3. I will go with Yay today :) I only wonder where is the rest of her arm that is hanging down...am I just missing it?

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  4. Yeah. She looks like a fancy shepherdess in that short gown. All she needs is a golden staff.

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  5. The shawl needs to go. Otherwise I like it!

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  6. Nay. It's an adorable dress, it would look utterly charming on many people, but it's just not right for someone as tall and lanky as Giovanna. She looks ridiculous - mutton dressed as lamb, matron dressed as shepherdess.

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  7. yay!
    she looks lovely in that dress and more imporantly, she looks very happy in it too!

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  8. Oh, yay!
    She looks divine! Like little Bo Peep. ^_^

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  9. Yes, my first thought was "Where are the sheep?". Too fussy and too many bows. But it is a costume though, so I'm trying to picture it on a stage and in doing so I would have to give it a yay

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  10. Lovely costume for the ballet/stage! The amount of contrast is good, easily visible from the nosebleed section, the length is right for the ballet since the point (bad pun!) of the ballet is the beauty of the foot positions, and the ethereal look to the material means it would float with the dancer.

    A big YAY!

    Muse, her arm is tucked behind her back which is why you only see to her elbow.

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  11. Yay! I love love love this painting, the subject, and her costume. I think it's divine.

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  12. Yay! She looks absolutely beautiful.

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  13. I would like to read the terms of agreement btwn artist and patron, when she said what she wanted.

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  14. Nay. I agre with Dreamstress, whose comment about 'mutton dressed as lamb' was not only witty, but true. The wispy, adorable outfit makes the wearer look hawkish and crude. Triple nay.

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  15. Nay. It looks like she's trying to hard. And I hate that apron.

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  16. Yay... I always like to surprise my lovers...

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  17. I love it! It's so refreshing and sweet.

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  18. oh yes! that dress is adorable!

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  19. Yay. Whole painting is charming! Love the pointed toe, her expression, the dress, and her gesture.

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  20. Definately a Yay from me! I love how it's soft and feminine, and has a decent amount of ruffle, without being over the top and cloying. Plus, it gets extra points for being the costume Lady Beatrice Herbert had made to wear at the Duchess of Devonshire's Ball a century later.

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  21. I have to agree with The Dreamstress on this one - a nay from me. Great comment, Lauren, I was wondering the same thing myself! :)

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  22. Yay on the dress itself but I agree with the wits of the jury who say she emulates a frolicking lamb that is, quite clearly, a ewe.

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  23. It is, after all, a ballet costume, to which the dress is perfectly suited, altho I wonder about the weight of the material. Pastoral, yes. Lovely? Yes.
    I say Yay

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  24. Urgh, Nay. Just not sweet like it ought to be.

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