Tea at Trianon: Katherine of Aragon in Art

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, December 20, 2010

Katherine of Aragon in Art

Apparently she was used as a model in religious paintings. According to "Madame Guillotine": "Let’s look at some pictures of her in her golden haired youth and think about what a shame it is that no pictures of her in her middle years, when she was an adored young Queen seem to have survived."

Gareth has compiled some posts about the 525th anniversary of her birth, HERE. Share

4 comments:

Michelle Therese said...: Her coifs weren't ugly! That comment kinda ruins the moment lol; December 20, 2010 at 2:04:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: All married women wore coifs, too.; December 20, 2010 at 3:18:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: I must admit, I never knew she was used as a model in religious paintings. I have to say, though, how much I admire her. Of all of Henry's wives, she was the one who stood up to him in principle and in love, and never wavered from either no matter how badly he abused her. She was certainly a picture of Christ's love of His church, wasn't she?; December 21, 2010 at 10:25:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, she was, Christine. I agree!; December 21, 2010 at 10:29:00 AM EST