Thursday 10 January 2013

Embarrassing Baby Photo, 18th Century-Style


Dear readers, I have just returned from a journey involving 13 time zones, so my brain is currently about as on top of things as a particularly cobweb-filled crawl space.  Thus, this week’s belated entry will again be rather short so I can get back to the important tasks of catching up on other people’s awesome blogs and passing out in the middle of the day.

We return to the work of François Boucher, who we have encountered here and here.  This portrait of Louis Philippe of Orléans has both 100% less nudity and 100% more baby transvestitism than those previous paintings.


Young Louis is sporting a lovely gown and pair of Mary Janes, guaranteed to make him the envy of the ladies of the court.  Also he must have had an aunt that was a little crazy on the hat-embellishment crocheting.  Either that or the hat is there to cover some serious birth defects.

On his lap he has what I initially thought was a terrifying midget cat on a sled.  I have since read that it is a cat toy, which is much less funny.  So just pretend you didn’t read that.

One might point to the gown-wearing as an early example of responsible parenting not forcing pre-conceived notions of gender on the child.  However, besides the toy cat and horse, his other main plaything appears to be cards.  Clearly he is already a gambling addict at the tender age of two.  Look at the bags under his eyes; he must have had a long night at the card parlor before sitting for his portrait.  The gown may simply be the result of some early wining and womanizing, grabbing the wrong garment in the morning as he toddled out of the cradle.
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12 comments:

  1. The Owl Wood10 January 2013 at 07:19

    I paid a fortune once to be dressed in a similar fashion and allowed to use a potty. Mind you, that was a year or two ago now so the price may have dropped.

    The painting is much more terrifying if you convince your mind that the cat is full domestic cat size and the "baby" accordingly scaled ...

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    1. Sarcastic Ninja11 January 2013 at 00:15

      Well, those dresses are quite expensive, but I'm sure you were ravishing and it was all worth it.

      I wonder if giant aristocrat babies played a role in the unfolding of the Revolution.

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  2. Hippo10 January 2013 at 07:57

    I think you are right, Sir Owl, the horse looks terrified.

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    1. Sarcastic Ninja11 January 2013 at 00:17

      The baby looks a little terrifying in general...but now I shall have nightmares of giant toddling babies destroying the city.

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  3. Christian at Point Counter-Point Point Point10 January 2013 at 08:26

    I too assumed that the cat was real and was immediately angry at my cats for being regular sized when there's this tiny breed of cat out there.

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    1. Sarcastic Ninja11 January 2013 at 00:18

      You can get "teacup cats" that are tiny and convenient for carrying in a purse or pocket, as long as you don't mind said purse or pocket being instantly shredded.

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  4. Gorilla Bananas10 January 2013 at 10:16

    The cat may be a toy, but the horse is definitely giving him a dirty look. His mother must have wanted a girl, but the face doesn't fit the dress. I can already see the fat man in pantaloons he must have become.

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    1. Sarcastic Ninja11 January 2013 at 00:22

      I'd be annoyed if I'd been hobbled and turned into a spoilt child's toy, too. And your vision of his future seems like a fair bet.

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  5. Anonymous11 January 2013 at 12:20

    I can't imagine dad was ok with this painting. On so many levels. Though I'm not up on my history- was he one of those aristocrats babbling in a corner?

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    1. Sarcastic Ninja12 January 2013 at 09:29

      I'm not really up on my history either, but I'm pretty sure he was one of those aristocrats who did not fare very well in the Revolution.

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  6. Pickleope12 January 2013 at 08:46

    Hey, just because young Louis knew from an early age that he liked trying on his sister's clothes and slapping on mommy's makeup, let us not judge. OR! Maybe he had an older sister and his parents were too frugal to buy boy clothes so they used hand-me-downs. The gambling addiction is a bit troubling, as is the early warning signs that he might go all Equus with that horse.

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    1. Sarcastic Ninja12 January 2013 at 09:33

      If more aristocrats had been so frugal, maybe the world would be a different place! But I think he just liked the dresses. A lot of French men wore heels as a matter of course, anyway...

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