Figure 1.--Madame Vigée LeBrun painted the Comte Jules de Polignac (1780-1847) in 1788. The boy was Auguste Jules Armand Marie, second son of the duc and duchesse de Polignac, who became comte in 1817, and in 1820 was made prince by Pope Pius VII. The portrait shows him wearing what looks like a satin longpants skeleton with a hughe broad-brimmed hat and feather. |
Madame Vigée LeBrun painted the Comte Jules de Polignac (1780-1847) in 1788. The boy was Auguste Jules Armand Marie, second son of the duc and duchesse de Polignac, who became
comte in 1817, and in 1820 was made prince by Pope Pius VII. He served as the prime minister of King Charles X. The portrait shows him wearing what looks like a satin longpants skeleton with a hughe broad-brimmed hat and feather. The skeleton suit was an enormously popular style for boys from affluent families in the late 18th and early 20th century. We have seen many of these suits made in velvet. This is one of the realtively few suits that we have seen made in satin. This boy's suit especially interesting because that he wears long pants. We note what look to be skeleton suits in Britain during the 1770s, but the boys commonly wear lnee breaches with them. This is one of the earliest long pants skeleton suits that w have noted.
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