Detail of Young Woman Overtaken by a Storm by Bonnemaison in the Brooklyn Museum, January 2010

Young Woman Overtaken by a Storm (Une Jeune Femme s'étant Avancée dans la Campagne se Trouve Surprise par l'orage)

Taking shelter underneath a sturdy oak, an elegantly, if scantily clad young woman—perhaps separated from her party of nature-seekers—tearfully cowers as powerful winds whip at her gauzy attire. In this picture, exhibited at the Salon of 1799, Bonnemaison pays homage to the era's prevailing, classically inspired tastes: the young woman wears the high-waisted, muslin robe à l'antique and delicate cothurnes, or sandals, that became all the rage for fashionable French women in the 1790s. At the same time, the threatening storm—evidence of nature's force—hints at a nascent Romanticism and its embrace of the sublime.


Artist: Chevalier Féréol de Bonnemaison, French, ca. 1770-1827

Medium: Oil on canvas

Place Made: France

Dates: 1799

Dimensions: 39 3/8 x 31 11/16 in. (100 x 80.5 cm)

Collections: European Art

Museum Location: This item is on view in Beaux-Arts Court, West, 3rd Floor

Accession Number: 71.138.1

Credit Line: Gift of Louis Thomas

Text from: www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4817/young_...