Style Imitating Art…
Welcome back for my interpretation of a beautiful piece of art by a very mysterious artist! Salazar, Shelbee, and I are the curators. You can think of this series as fashion meets art museum! SIA challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. Salazar is this week’s curator with a beautiful Neoclassical painting. I hope you enjoy this post, the information, and my interpretation.
How it works…
Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. We then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, we share our outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. Salazar chose this week’s art work for this round of Style Imitating Art. If you’d like, you can read why she chose it here. Please send your photo to Salazar by Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 by 10 pm EST. Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here and here.
The artist…
Joseph François Fratrel was born in Épinal, France in 1730. I couldn’t really find much about him that I wanted to share with you. I will tell you there is a lot on a certain site which is generally regarded as not reliable. Fratrel was a French painter and etcher as well as a court painter. I scoured the internet trying to find information. Although we know next to nothing about his parents, almost everything I read said they wanted him to be a lawyer. He did study law in Besançon and even received his license on January 5, 1759. He was admitted to the Nancy bar on June 20, 1759.
A little more…
Luckily for us, Fratrel studied painting at the Parisian studio of P.-A. Baudoin. Following this, he returned to Lorraine and was a painting instructor at the Metz Academy. He began painting miniatures in Nancy and at the court of King Stanislas Leszczynski of Poland in 1754. It was at this point, he completely ended his legal career.
Even more…
When Stanislas died in 1766, Prince Palatine Charles Theodore summoned him to Mannheim. There, Fratrel painted for the court and taught at the Academies of Mannheim and Düsseldorf. I’m wondering if Fratrel was easily bored because he then turned to historical painting, using Raphael and Poussin as inspirations. During this period, Fratrel produced Cornelia, The Flight into Egypt, and Hercules Taming the Hydra. He then started using encaustic paint. One of my sources said it was invented by Baron von Taubenheim. But, when I googled it, I discovered encaustic paint was used by ancient Greeks during the Hellenistic period which was around 325 BCE. Anyway, encaustic painting is basically creating a different medium made up of beeswax, resin, and pigments. I’ve included a video on how to make the encaustic medium as well as this particular artist using it.
Finally…
Many of Fratrel’s paintings, using encaustic medium, are in the Munich Museum. He authored the manual, Wax Combined with Oil, or Oil-Wax Painting, in 1770. As I said, I think Fratrel was easily distracted or immensely talented. He also created copper engravings as well as being a lithographer. These were usually allegorical or religious and included Saint Nicholas Distributing Alms, Science, Agriculture, Navigation, and paintings such as The Chevalier and Baron von Hubens. He died on May 15, 1783 in Mannheim, Germany. I couldn’t find anything about Fratrel’s personal life. I’m assuming he married at some point as he had a son, also named Joseph. He was born in Mannheim and died in Heidelberg. Like his father, the junior Fratrel was also a painter and lithographer.
The artwork…
Allegory to Astronomy is part of the collection of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen (Mannheim, Germany). This museum is known for frequently rotating exhibits. Allegory to Astronomy may or may not be currently on exhibit. It is on permanent loan from the Gesellschaft der Freunde Mannheims und der ehemaligen Kurpfalz. The painting is wax and oil on canvas and measures 25 × 20.8 inches (63.5 x 52.8 cm). It was painted circa 1782. Once again I turned to ChatGPT for a description of the painting. It says, “At its center is a graceful female figure personifying Astronomy. She’s typically shown looking upward, her gaze directed toward the heavens, suggesting curiosity and intellectual pursuit. Her posture is calm yet attentive, embodying contemplation rather than action. Around her are the tools of her discipline – object like a celestial globe, compass, or telescope – signifying observation, measurement, and the expanding human understanding of the cosmos during the Enlightenment. What’s striking is the tone: it’s not dramatic or chaotic, but serene and ordered. That reflects how astronomy was viewed at the time – not just as a technical field, but as a noble, almost philosophical pursuit tied to reason, harmony, and the structure of the universe. In short, Fratrel’s painting isn’t just about studying stars – it’s about elevating human intellect and curiosity, presenting astronomy as a bridge between the earthly knowledge and the vast, ordered cosmos.”
Sources…
My interpretation…
As always, I struggled with this piece. I was so intent on the stars, but then I looked at it more closely. I looked at colors, textures, and details. As soon as I forgot about the stars (a blank in my closet…whodathunk), I knew exactly what my foundation would be. I bought this Pure Jill Beaded & Embroidered Jacket (still available and on sale) sometime last winter. It is me in so many ways…velvet, beading, embroidery! Anyway, I thought it was the perfect start for Joseph Fratrel’s Allegory to Astronomy. Am I right, or am I right? While the beading on my jacket isn’t stars, it is definitely a close runner up, and I’ll take that. Then, what to wear under it? That peasant blouse neckline is not something I like. I spotted this long tunic from Gudrun Sjödén with lots of embroidery and pintucking. The only bad thing about it was you couldn’t see the sleeves. But, not to worry, they’re almost exactly like the body of the tunic. Now, some might have tucked this in, but I thought a lady from the 18th century wouldn’t worry about a waistline. Then, to pick up the burgundy in the painting, I added an Old Navy slip skirt. All in all, I really like the look. I probably wouldn’t wear it in public because the tunic is too voluminous for my tastes. But, I will definitely wear the slip skirt with the jacket and a wonderful white blouse this fall and winter.
The Lewk!
Surprise! Surprise! It is another appearance of my Miz Mooz Leighton boots in black. I am telling y’all, these are the best boots evah! They’re as soft as buttah and are out-of-the-box comfortable! I imagine our fair eighteenth century lady would have worn nice black boots like these. They definitely put stars in my eyes! I added an old, old Stella & Dot lace necklace and matching earrings. When these came out, the story was that one of the founders of the line had been in Paris looking at old lace. These are based on some of the lace she found. I don’t care if that’s true or not, I thought they mimicked the lacy insets on our fair lady’s blouse. The bracelets (here, here, and here) are from Brighton and were part of the infamous Christmas gifts from Nigel.
Wrap it up, Marsha!
This has to be the shortest Style Imitating Art post I’ve written! Hopefully, Shelbee will be able to find much more. She has magical skills when it comes to digging up the information. It’s too bad because Fratrel created so many beautiful things, and there’s so little known about him. So, can we talk? Do you own any starry clothing? Why do you think there’s so little known about Fratrel? Would you try encaustic painting? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as quickly as I can.
Don’t forget…
If you want to be included in the Style Imitating Art round up, send Salazar your photo by 10:00 pm EST, Tuesday, May 5th. Photos of everyone participating will appear on her blog on Wednesday, May 6th! If you’re interested in joining us, consider all of your options…the colors, the textures, the feelings they evoke! Come on, give it a try! I think you’ll love it!
Thank you!
I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.
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Where you can find me:
Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, Suzy Turner, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World . I also link up with I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish as well as the Senior Salon Pit Stop (Esme’s Salon) and Slices of Life. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month as well as the Global Writing Challenge on the second Thursday. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, Cat, and Rena. I also host 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!
That jacket is beautiful, I just love velvet! It’s such a rich look together with that skirt.
Yay! You found an outfit to match the theme despite your first worries.
Marsha, what a gorgeous outfit! I am dying over this luscious beaded velvet jacket!. It looks so good with the beautiful burgundy skirt. I quite like the long white tunic with it, too. Like you, I wouldn’t wear my outfit for this challenge out in public either, but I would totally wear YOUR outfit out in public! Beautiful interpretation, my friend. I did find a little bit more information about Fratrel but all of my sources said he had no children. Yet you found that he had Joseph Jr.! Oh, the Information Age is so confusing, isn’t it? We have so much information available at our fingertips that we can no longer distinguish truth from fiction! I choose to focus on the fun instead of the fiction! LOL
Shelbee