Payton, Kamee: “Francis Davis Millet, an Artist of His Time” Autumn Idyll and After the Festival 

 

“Francis Davis Millet, an Artist of His Time”  Autumn Idyll, Francis D. Millet, Oil on Canvas, Brooklyn Museum

The costumes worn by the young women in Millet’s Autumn Idyll are inspired by classical fashions. This interest in classical dress by Millet comes as no surprise, as the nineteenth century introduced many fashion trends that were influenced by Greek and Roman styles.

The dresses in Millet’s Autumn Idyll are patterned after the Roman stola. The stola was a garment characterized by its layers of cloth and loose drapery.[1] It was often belted high on a woman’s ribcage, although it could be worn without a belt.[2]  The gowns seen in the painting are inspired by these characteristics. Purples, yellows and pinks were colors favored in Greek fashion. Purple was a particularly sought-after color, being that it was one of the more difficult colors to achieve in a dye.[3] These colors appear in the figures’ dresses. Millet gives the standing figure delicate lavender drapery with a bright purple ribbon that catches the viewers eye while the sitting figure wears pale yellows and pinks. These pastel colors were seen in women’s fashion in the 1860’s. One popular dress, that gained popularity in the 1880’s was called the “Mother Hubbard” dress. The design of the dress altered slightly as years passed however it was continually based on classical fashion, specifically the Roman Stola. The dress had a high waistline with flowing fabric. This was a gown mainly worn by pregnant women as maternity wear or worn by women when relaxing.[4] The “Mother Hubbard” dress has many similarities to the dresses painted by Millet suggesting that he took inspiration from current fashion trends as well as his knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman costume to achieve the look of the gowns which the figures wear in Autumn Idyll.

Another fashion trend of nineteenth century was the cothurn shoe.[5] This shoe was an adaptation of the Greek laced up sandal. The cothurne shoe appears in paintings done in the nineteenth century. Une Étude de Femme d’Après Nature by Marie-Denise Villers, painted in 1802, is an example of the cothurne shoe and its ties to Greek culture as it is patterned after the sculpture of Hermes fastening his sandal. Millet himself painted a similar scene in his painting Woman Lacing a Sandal. Millet paints one of the figures in Autumn Idyll wearing a classical tied shoe, inspired by these fashions.

[1] Mary Harlow and Marie Louise Nosch, Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, (Oxbow Books), 268

[2] Harlow, 268

[3] Harlow, 11

[4] Sally Helvenston Gray, “Searching for Mother Hubbard: Function and Fashion in Nineteenth Century Dress”, (Winterthur Portfolio 2014), 41

[5] Susan L. Seigfreid, “The Visual Culture of Fashion and the Classical Ideal in Post-Revolutionary France”, (The Art Bulletin, 2015), 82

Literature

Cage, E. Claire. “The Sartorial Self: Neoclassical Fashion and Gender Identity in France, 1797-1804.” Eighteenth-Century Studies 42, no. 2 (2009): 193-215. Accessed April 14, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40264250.

Gray, Sally Helvenston. “Searching for Mother Hubbard: Function and Fashion in Nineteenth-Century Dress.” Winterthur Portfolio 48, no. 1 (2014): 29-74. Accessed April 14, 2021. doi:10.1086/676031.

Harlow, Mary, and Marie-Louise Nosch. 2015. Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress : An Interdisciplinary Anthology. Ancient Textiles Series. Philadelphia: Oxbow Books. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e025xna&AN=967520&site=eds-live.

Siegfried, Susan L. “The Visual Culture of Fashion and the Classical Ideal in Post-Revolutionary France.” The Art Bulletin 97, no. 1 (2015): 77-99. Accessed April 14, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43947720.

“Francis Davis Millet, an Artist of His Time” After the Festival, Francis D. Millet, Oil on canvas

Millet had a love for classical art and neoclassical style, acquired from his education and travel, which is demonstrated in his painting After the Festival. Throughout his career, Millet would have become familiar with these styles as he traveled throughout Europe and the United States, as this architecture was influenced by Greek and Roman styles.

Greek and Roman influence can be seen in American art and architecture. In the nineteenth century these styles became increasingly popular in United States. Americans were inspired by Greek ideals as the United States was a young and growing country. Even if Americans did not have a chance to travel in Greece many were well read on the subject or had been to places in Europe and had seen Greek inspired architecture there.[1]Architects borrowed designs from the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders. Doric columns were used in Washington D.C. on the Capitol Building, completed earlier in 1793.  The Doric order was the simplest of the classical orders and worked well for the purpose of the Capitol Building. Simple and balanced classical elements were increasingly popular in building designs.[2] The Boston Museum, completed in 1870, is an example of neoclassical architecture in the United States, with its Ionic capitals, pediment and fluted columns. Millet lived in Boston and frequently exhibited his works in the Boston Museum as well as worked as a juror there. Many homes were built using neoclassical styles as well.[3]

Millet spent time in England, both studying and exhibiting his work. The National Gallery in London was finished 1824 and was based on Neoclassical designs. Its capitals are in the Corinthian order, more decorative and elaborate than those of the Doric or Ionic orders. The British museum, built earlier in 1753, would have been inspiration for Millet as well. The front of the museum has Ionic Capitals, a neoclassical frieze and pediment sculpture.

In After the Festival Millet paints the figure among green trees and light flowers, impacted by the various environments that he spent time in.[4] The visible column on the right is a fluted column, characteristic of the Doric order.[5] Millet borrows from Classical architecture again as he uses color to create the effect of marble where the figure sits. Marble was commonly used in Greek temples and figure sculpture.[6] The composition is simple, as well as balanced, two elements very important to Classical art and architecture.[7] There is simplicity in his color scheme and his choice of landscape in the background. The colors of the figures dress add a pop of color to the composition and are balanced in the opposite corner by the green trees, while the upper right and lower left corners are harmonious in their marble-like coloring.

[1] Downs, 174

[2] Robinson, 27

[3] Joseph Downs, “The Greek Revival in the United States”, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin), 174

[4] Robinson, 18

[5] Gene Waddell, “The Principal Design Methods for Greek Doric Temples and Their Modification for the Parthenon”, (Architectural History), 5

[6] Robinson, 25

[7] Robinson, 25

Literature

Downs, Joseph. “The Greek Revival in the United States.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 2, no. 5 (1944): 173-76. Accessed April 18, 2021. doi:10.2307/3257126.

Robinson, H. “The Influence of Geographical Factors Upon the Fine Arts.” Geography 34, no. 1 (1949): 18-29. Accessed April 18, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40562794.

Waddell, Gene. “The Principal Design Methods for Greek Doric Temples and Their Modification for the Parthenon.” Architectural History 45 (2002): 1-31. Accessed April 18, 2021. doi:10.2307/1568774.