#jean paul marat

The astronomically rising cost of everything has got me wanting to build some guillotines but with lumber prices the way they are…

Anyway, I recently discovered Adobe Lightroom’s app so have some Marat edits from - good lord - 2013.

Getting put out by my lack of costume content on what is, in theory, a cosplay account. Marat has rearrived at the front my brain now that it’s the New Year so here’s a shot that didn’t make the initial cut from back in early 2013.

In addition to other Prime Shenanigans slated for 2022 projects, I’m also hoping to do another couple of lewks for him. Design notes from the journal as follows:

- Dressed Down Version to include: night-shirt, stockings, literally slippers, print-shop apron, coat on top, head-scarf (tbh, this feels the most accurate).

- National Convention Version to include: frock coat, breeches, (shitty) stockings, waistcoat (marginally decent), proper shoes actually, accessory pistols (probably).

- Print-Shop Version: shirt that’s Obviously Seen Some Shit, waistcoat made of carpet, maybe apron, some form of pants (optional), ink stains, abused coffee mug.

Updates to follow.

Without getting into too much detail (because this is another post with babble potential), I’d like to touch upon the imagery of Charlotte Corday, who definitely wins the prize for “Most Spartan” Frenchwoman, but I’d like to look at it from the English perspective. To review, Charlotte was the broad who took matters into her own hand when the executions in the French Revolution became too numerous. Placing blame on Jean-Paul Marat for the out of control killing sprees, Charlotte assassinated Marat with a butter knife in his bathtub. Well, maybe not a butter knife, but she she did buy a kitchen knife right beforehand to do the job. She was, of course, punished with the original execution of death by guillotine.

This, of course, made her a martyr. The French despised her for her actions. A man even lifted her freshly severed head from the guillotine basket to slap her cheek. The English, on the other hand, idolized the murderess. As can be seen in this Gillray print, Corday is one of the few women to be portrayed in a positive light by the satirical artist. Her depiction is very similar to those of Britannia, a rare compliment for those not of English origin. Don’t you just love how in this depiction, Charlotte address the assembly as “wretches”? Plus, I doubt Gillray ever put so much time into making a hairdo look nice as he did with this print. It should also be noted how incredibly un-French Charlotte looks. She looks more… hmm… British? Her depiction is notably in the British vogue.

The British, who have a tradition of enjoying a good rebellion (unless it is against them), felt France crossed the line with the execution of Louis XVI. Charlotte became, for them, a symbol of liberty, the exact thing France was fighting for. The French disagreed with this viewpoint and felt it was Marat, the guy who died taking a bubble bath, who was the true martyr.

Source: http://georgianaduchessofdevonshire.blogspot.com/2008/05/gossip-from-france-charlotte-corday.html