Les beau décolleté 1860s

Curator: Looking at this image by Pierre-Louis Pierson, titled "Les beau décolleté," created sometime in the 1860s, now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's an albumen print. Editor: Immediately, the subject's averted gaze strikes me, a mix of vulnerability and defiance. She's beautiful, of course, by the standards of the time, but her expression suggests a quiet resistance. Curator: Absolutely. Pierson was closely tied to the French court. He even became the official photographer for the Countess de Castiglione, Virginia Oldoini. Editor: Knowing Pierson's history, and thinking about the countess, this becomes more layered. Her clothing—the dark colour, the lavish, wide skirt that nearly hides the room around her–it makes me wonder about her positionality, about the societal expectations of her, even the gaze itself of a photographic studio and its subject. Curator: She certainly challenged the norm, which is likely what attracted Napoleon III's court to her. It’s clear that these portrait sittings for Virginia were opportunities for her to assert some kind of control in a rigid court. I see that power dynamic very clearly within these collaborative sittings. Editor: A vital reminder of art's negotiation of gender, class, and the controlled image. I am now looking again, thinking through how such carefully produced portraits served, or didn't serve, the person at their centre. We need this image today as it is an assertion of a historical feminist moment, a way to see strength within supposed rules. Curator: I agree completely. It also provides insights into the rise of photography's function within a courtly structure that once would’ve focused on oil painting and hand-drawn likenesses. A fascinating lens on social change. Editor: A poignant image and an intersectional window, no doubt. The Met has yet another moment to encourage deeper examination.