Season 2 of the steamy period drama hit Netflix on the 25th of March to record-breaking audience numbers. The show had the streaming service’s most successful opening weekend of any English-language series to date, with 193 million hours watched in the space of two days.
Only Squid Game last year could top Season 1 of Bridgerton in terms of viewing numbers – a whopping 82 million households watched the first instalment of the now enormous Bridgerton franchise.
The internet has been totally under its saucy spell ever since we got our first glimpse of the Bridgerton family back in December 2020. We had all been in pandemic and trapped in multiple lockdowns for over 9 months by that point and binge television seemed to be the only thing keeping us sane. Maybe it was our longing for social interactions that made this ball-filled world so appealing. More likely it was our libidos that had been denied IRL flirting for almost a year.
Now that we’re once again getting into Bridgerton mode – speaking to our cat like they are the lord of the manor, trying to hoick our bazongas as high as we can to get that historical bust-line, and writing impassioned letters to spread neighborhoud gossip – we’re here to share some of our favourite regency-period paintings to get us in the groove.
Marguerite Gérard – Painting a portrait of a lute player, 1803
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun – Julie Le Brun as Flora, 1799
Jacques-Louis David – The Sisters Zénaïde and Charlotte Bonaparte, 1821
Benjamin West – John Eardley Wilmot, 1812
Thomas Lawrence – Lady Maria Conyngham, 1824–25
Zacarías González Velázquez – Manuela González Velázquez Playing the Piano, 1820
Sir Henry Raeburn – Miss Eleanor Urquhart, 1793
Amelia Curran – Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1819
William Beechey – Princess Augusta, 1818
William Hilton – Self Portrait, Early 19th Century
Vittorio Reggianni – Admiration, Early 19th Century
Author: Verity Babbs
