Perceiving Identity : Marie Antoinette as Monarch, Matron, Mother

Abstract

The problem with any artistic endeavor, the artist knows, is that once art enters the realm of the viewer, it becomes the vision of the particular viewer and not the vision or intention of the artist. When the object concerned is a portrait, the preconceived vision lost is not just the artist's but the subject's as well. For the average sitter, an unflattering portrait might necessitate a replacement, might be a slight embarrassment but does not have wider, and far-reaching importance. When the subject is a queen and the audience is a nation, viewership and the significance between intended and accepted meaning, have infinite implications.