This painting portrays family life at Versailles. While it is still formal, Marie Antoinette’s adoration for her children is more apparent than in the family paintings from her own youth, in which her mother the Empress appeared sterner.
The queen is most likely corseted in this painting, as probably are her children! Because their bodies were generally considered softer and weaker than those of adult males, eighteenth century women and children were thought to require the artificial support of “stays.” (This belief may have been fostered by the commonality of osteoporosis at this time.)
Many physicians debated the practice of women "tight lacing" their stays to create a smaller waist, and fashion temporarily discarded corseting in the 1790s.
The queen is most likely corseted in this painting, as probably are her children! Because their bodies were generally considered softer and weaker than those of adult males, eighteenth century women and children were thought to require the artificial support of “stays.” (This belief may have been fostered by the commonality of osteoporosis at this time.)
Many physicians debated the practice of women "tight lacing" their stays to create a smaller waist, and fashion temporarily discarded corseting in the 1790s.
