Lithographs by Achille Devoria

Subject

Illustration

Title

Lithographs by Achille Devoria

Date

ca. 1850

Description

The Historic Textile and Costume Collection houses three lithographs imprinted with dates of 1792, 1794, and 1801 and the barely legible name of “A. Devoria.” Achille Devoria (1800-1857) was a French artist who specialized in portraits of writers and artists, book illustrations, and lithographs that were sold as albums. The subjects of URI’s three lithographs are a fashionable Parisian youth subculture during the late 1790s and early 1800s known as Incroyables (the Incredibles) and Merveilleueses (the Marvelous). Achille Devoria was not born until 1800, so he “borrowed” his subjects from elsewhere, namely an album created by Horace Vernet in 1815 entitled Incroyables et Merveilleueses. Horace Vernet (1789-1863) was only a small boy when the Incroyables and Merveilleueses walked the streets of Paris (1795-1804); thus, he in turn got his images from elsewhere. The originator was Horace Vernet’s father, Carle (1758-1836), who had created a popular set of engravings that caricatured the youthful subcultures wardrobes during the French Revolution and its aftermath, which his son copied years later.

Contributor

Linda Welters, Ph.D.

Collection Items

Lithograph, Incroyables of 1792
This image depicts Incroyable and Merveilleueses fashions of 1792, showing a man and woman dressed in brightly colored outfits. The woman is wearing a chemise a la reine or gaulle, which was made famous by Marie Antionette a few years earlier. It is…

Lithograph, Incroyables and Merveilleuses, 1794
This image depicts examples of Les Incroyables and their female versions, Les Merveilleuses. They were members of the French Directory after the Revolution who were known for their out-of-the-ordinary fashion. The Incroyables and Merveilleuses tended…

Lithograph, "Consulat.  Année 1801"
Consulat. Année 1801 This image caricatures the dress of government officials during the period of the French Consulate. The Consulate was the Government of France from 1799 to 1804. The woman depicted is wearing a white gown characteristic of the…
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