Identification of the Couple’s Portrait from the Tansey Miniatures Foundation: identification issues
AbstractThis article examines a couple’s miniature portrait, traditionally ascribed to Italian artist Julie Corneo, kept in the collection of the Tansey Miniatures Foundation. Relying on the printed and archival sources, the author was able to establish the identity of the general and his wife shown on the miniature. More importantly, the author attempted to re-examine the evolution of the uniforms of generals of the French Republic between 1791 and 1803 and to demonstrate the function of regulations and normative documents of this period. The process of identifying these portraits, through complex analysis and comparative approach, offered an opportunity to cast a fresh look at the existing tangible culture and to bring to light one of the mechanisms of constructing the identity of the French nation, its symbols and national language.