Merveilleuse: Chapeau à l’Anglaise, Spencer à l’Anglaise 1814

Horace Vernet created this print titled *Merveilleuse: Chapeau à l’Anglaise, Spencer à l’Anglaise*, and it is now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The lithograph presents a study in contrasts, built around the stark black lines against the unyielding white of the page. The figure, slender and elongated, is defined by the detailed rendering of fabric and form. Consider how Vernet uses line to delineate the subject's attire, setting up a semiotic play between fashion and identity. The high-waisted dress and elaborate hat, rendered with careful attention, speak to the sartorial excesses of the Merveilleuses during the French Directory. Here we see more than fashion, these choices convey messages about social identity and cultural values. The print flattens and simplifies the forms into a network of signs, inviting us to decode not just an image of a woman, but a commentary on femininity, luxury and representation itself. Through this lens, Vernet’s lithograph challenges fixed meanings, prompting ongoing interpretation.