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The #EpsteinFiles Are Being Released to Congress today.

Full-on Meltdown.
Code: #CrazyHat

#crazyhat #france #eiffeltower

This early 1700s iconic French portrait evokes the Grand Siècle of Louis XIV. “La Belle Strasbourgeoise” is the most famous work of one of the greatest masters of the genre in Europe: Nicolas de Largillière. It owes its fame, notoriety, and aura to an earlier version of the portrait in the collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Strasbourg, France where, since 1964, it has become one of the most widely distributed French portraits in the world. This fully-signed version was known for a long time by art historians, yet it has always remained in private collections. It is very similar to the Strasbourg version but differs in a few points of significant importance. The first variation is the balustrade installed behind the model. The horizontality of this parapet structures the space and responds to the guiding line given by the base of the large hat. The space is thus constructed, structured in three equal parts. The second difference is linked to the landscape background and the slightly different vegetation. In this version, we find the presence, very probably significant, of an orange tree on the right of the composition as well as a rose bush on the left. These two elements do not appear on the Strasbourg version making this portrait to be considered by some as "more complete, more detailed, and more baroque." The costume worn by this young woman is that of the patriciate of Strasbourg between 1688 and 1730. Under Louis XIV, this costume was among the height of fashion. It is composed of a red skirt covered with a large black apron, wide sleeves tightened at the elbow by pleated ribbons and finished with lace cuffs, a laced bust, a white shawl edged with lace and, above all, an extravagant hat trimmed with black lace. It is the strangeness of this hat that prompted the artist to make it a focus of the painting. The identity of the model remains mysterious, a true Strasbourg woman, a Parisian wearing a costume, or perhaps the painter's sister.

La Belle Strasbourgeoise by Nicolas de Largillière (French) - Oil on canvas / 1703 #womeninart #art #portrait #hat #womensart #oilpainting #portraitofawoman #bighat #blackhat #fineart #frenchart #artwork #frenchartist #NicolasdeLargillierre #Largillière #crazyhat #largehat #bskyart #artbsky #fashion

The artist who painted this unusual portrait remains anonymous. Historians have suggested various names including the Master of the Schottenaltar and the Habsburg court painter Niclas Reiser of Schwaz, but it currently is catalogued as Austrian, but unknown or anonymous. In contrast, the sitter’s identity is know. the young woman with pale complexion and somewhat droopy look is Kunigunde of Austria, daughter of Frederick III, sister of Maximilian I, and wife of the 4th Duke of Bavaria. Kunigunde is depicted half-length wearing a low-cut dark brown and white dress. The striking element of the portrait is her elaborate goldenrod-colored headdress with jewels and bulbs, of a type fashionable in the last quarter of the 15th century. Around her neck is a thick gold chain from which hangs a large splendid gold cross. Such details confirm the suggestion that the painting was a nuptial portrait or was intended for presentation to possible suitors. It is notably similar to a late 16th-century miniature in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Retrato de Kunigunda de Austria by Unknown Austrian artist - Oil on panel / c. 1485 - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) #womeinart #hat #MNAC #art #fineart #bighat #AustrianArt #crazyhat #MuseuNacionald'ArtdeCatalunya #portrait #oilpainting #womensart #portraitofawoman #museumart