Monday, April 29, 2013

Rug

Above is a rug made by Marie-Antoinette and Madame Elisabeth during their years of imprisonment. It was begun in the Tuileries Palace in 1791; they continued working on it in the Temple prison. (Via Louis XX.)

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4 comments:

lara77 said...

I am absolutely amazed that this piece of history was at least not gashed by some revolutionary soldier's bayonet! It is absolutely beautiful and to know who made it makes it even more special. With all that was sold or destroyed I am always amazed at what survived down through the centuries.

Gette said...

I knew that they kept busy with various little works while in prison, but I had no idea that they could make a whole entire rug!! This is gorgeous!! How did they even know how to do this? I am amazed!

~Georgette

elena maria vidal said...

Yes, Lara, it is a miracle it has survived. Yes, Georgette, it is remarkable. Marie-Antoinette had become quite expert at tapestry and rug making and any kind of embroidery. She had long been planning the designs herself. She was extremely creative but also well-organized.

The North Coast said...

What a wonderful work of art. The world will never really know how talented Marie Antoinette was, but we can get an idea from her extant needlework. Yet, I never would have believed that she had made a rug like this.

It would be interesting to trace the journey of this heirloom from her hands in her prison, to the present. I wonder who got custody of it when she went to her last prison and hence to the guillotine, and whose hands it passed through afterwards.