18. gadsimta rīdzinieku modes tērpi Johana Kristofa Broces zīmējumos

• Authors: Parute Edīte

Title variants

EN

18th Century Riga Fashion in Johann Christoph Brotze’s Drawings

• Languages of publication: LV

Abstracts

EN

The legacy of the student of Baltic local history Johann Christoph Brotze (1742–1823) has always attracted researchers of 18th century Latvia’s culture and art. His collection in ten volumes, ‘Sammlung verschiedener Liefländischer Monumente, Prospecte, Wapen, etc.’ (below Monumente) in the Academic Library of the University of Latvia contains visual documentation and descriptions of townspeople’s everyday life, customs, entertainment and social transformations. While examining the visual specificities of clothes worn in late 18th century Riga, the author of this article discovered many locally peculiar and interesting evidences of city dwellers’ wish to follow the latest fashions of the time. The first volume (Riga Views, People and Buildings, 1992) of the academic publication of Brotze’s legacy ‘Zīmējumi un apraksti’ (Drawings and Descriptions), with materials from the 3rd volume of ‘Monumente’, gave a deeper insight into the clothing habits in Riga, revealing the meaning of the visual message of attire in the cultural-historical scene created by late 18th century Rigans and city visitors. The transition from Rococo to Classicism became the leading factor in the fashion trends of Vidzeme at the time, bringing corresponding motifs to art and fashion. The ethnic and social composition of the population in the second half of the 18th century significantly influenced Riga’s visual image – as seen from Brotze’s drawings, a rather motley and peculiar scene emerged here, manifesting both topical European phenomena and a mix between various ethnic elements and the fashion of the day. Drawings of city dwellers’ clothing in Brotze’s collection testify to the diversity of Riga in the 1770s–1790s. This scene displays the originality of townspeople’s clothes, testifying to uneven changes in the fashion field. In some cases there are just some modern details but other Brotze’s drawings show a Rigan whose costume represents the current fashion tendencies in Western Europe.

Keywords

EN

FASHION; RIGA; JOHANN CHRISTOPH BROTZE; DRAWINGS

• Publisher: Institute of Art History of the Latvian Academy of Art and Art History Research Support Foundation
• Journal: Makslas Vesture un Teorija
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 19
• Pages: 6-21

Contributors

author

Parute Edīte

• Latvian Academy of Art, 13 Kalpaka Blvd, Riga LV-1867, Latvia