litglutton:Seeing Art through Austen’s EyesOn May 24, 1813, Jane Austen went to a crowded art
litglutton:Seeing Art through Austen’s EyesOn May 24, 1813, Jane Austen went to a crowded art gallery on Pall Mall in London, looking for Mrs. Darcy.“I dare say Mrs. D. will be in yellow,” Austen wrote that morning to her sister, referring to the romantic heroine whose happy ending she had sketched out in “Pride and Prejudice,” published four months earlier.She came back disappointed, having failed to spot a ringer for the former Elizabeth Bennet among the actresses, aristocrats, royal mistresses and assorted well-married ladies on the gallery walls, which were covered with portraits by Joshua Reynolds. “I can only imagine that Mr. D prizes any picture of her too much to like it should be exposed to the public eye,” Austen wrote jokingly later that evening.But now, precisely 200 years later, an ambitious online exhibition called“What Jane Saw”will allow modern-day Janeiacs to wander through a meticulous reconstruction of the exhibition and put themselves, if not quite in Austen’s shoes, at least behind her eyes.Read More -- source link
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