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I’m not going to get into the #Bridgerton 
costumes, but this is the best fake Georgian painting I’ve ever seen onscreen, clearly inspired by Joshua Reynolds’ 1761-66 portrait of the Hon. Henry Fane, Inigo Jones, and Charles Blair in the @metmuseum:
costumes, but this is the best fake Georgian painting I’ve ever seen onscreen, clearly inspired by Joshua Reynolds’ 1761-66 portrait of the Hon. Henry Fane, Inigo Jones, and Charles Blair in the @metmuseum:
OK, I’m going to complain about one major costume error before we even get to the opening credits: Queen Charlotte rather famously insisted on hoops being worn at court until 1820, even though they looked ridiculous with high-waisted gowns.
Major Ingres vibes from Daphne:
Now for the ladies: this one, as I suspected, is a composite. The composition is very unusual for a Georgian portrait, and the figures don't interact the way they do in the Reynolds. Daphne is, er, "inspired by" a Beechey of c. 1805, also in the @metmuseum, complete with parasol.
Francesca #Bridgerton is pretty generic, but probably based on Hoppner's 1803-4 portrait of Mrs. Dottin from the @DIADetroit. The shoulders and sleeves are identical, as is the crease caused by a breeze blowing in the OPPOSITE direction from the one disturbing Eloise's hemline.
is pretty generic, but probably based on Hoppner's 1803-4 portrait of Mrs. Dottin from the @DIADetroit. The shoulders and sleeves are identical, as is the crease caused by a breeze blowing in the OPPOSITE direction from the one disturbing Eloise's hemline.
Indeed, that crease is SO similar that I wonder if it's just a reverse image of the Hoppner, with the pelisse from Raeburn's c. 1805 portrait of the Campbells of Kailzie from @KelvingroveArt and the hair and cravat from Lawrence's portrait of Arthur Atherley of c. 1791 at @LACMA.
As a composite, this is less convincing than the rippped-from-the-walls-of-the-Met portrait of the brothers, but it captures the distinct identities of the characters as well as the styles of specific Regency artists, with less need to update the costumes to fit the 1813 setting.
And the idea of having separate portraits of male and female members of one family is very on-brand for the Georgian period, as in these 1787 pendant portraits of the Wood family by Francis Wheatley from @TheHuntington:
It was also pretty common to Photoshop in a new family member if you had more children. Gainsborough’s portrait of the Byams in the @Holburne was painted in 1760 to commemorate their marriage, then repainted in 1766 to include their daughter--and update Mrs. Byam's hair and gown.
But the Bridgertons commissioned a whole new portrait for Gregory and Hyacinth. Again, pretty generic, but possibly referencing this Raeburn of c. 1800-10.
I'm only a couple of episodes in, but so far I haven't spotted any portraits POSTdating the 1813 setting, which is a huuuuuge pet peeve of mine--even more so than bad reproductions or bad costuming, if you can believe it.
There are all sorts of legit reasons to deviate from strict historical accuracy in costuming, but leaving Victorian portraits on the walls of your Georgian family's home is just plain carelessness.
