VICTORIAN ABSINTHE DEVIL – LADIES V NECK T-SHIRTS AND TANK TOPS

Description Absinthe was invented in 1797 and by the 1850’s it had become a firm favourite with the upper classes. It was originally a wine-based drink, but the Great French Wine Blight of the mid-19th century destroyed many of the French vineyards. Absinthe was based instead on grain alcohol. This made it more affordable and the Green Fairy became very popular as an alcoholic drink in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mysteriously sophisticated, darkly alluring, almost Satanic: absinthe often referred to as “Devil in the Bottle”  was the drink of choice for Baudelaire, Verlaine and Wilde. It inspired paintings by Degas and Manet, van Gogh and Picasso. It was blamed for conditions ranging from sterility to madness, to French defeats in World War I. The campaign against *the devil in a bottle* resulted in its ban throughout most of Europe. Its reputation for toxicity eventually extinguished the fin-de-siècle’s infatuation with absinthe, but not before it had influenced generations of artists on both sides of the channel. Artist: Maxine Miller ©celticjackalope.com Like this:Like Loading...