Tea at Trianon: Medallions of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

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

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Medallions of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

Rare medallions depicting Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette from A Private Collection. More HERE and HERE. To quote:

Stop, stop accusing me: time, circumstances and a thousand causes, which would take a long time to explain, are responsible for the misfortunes of France. It's very cruel to reproach me for them.
~Excerpt of a letter from Louis XVI, dated 7th September 1789.

1774

Inscription: Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche Reine de France 1774 (Marie Antoinette of Austria Queen of France 1774)

Katherine B. said...: That excerpt is so true! He spoke right from the heart. I just wish that people understood that that was the truth. Very nice medallions, too!; March 19, 2011 at 11:20:00 AM EDT
May said...: I understand the frustration with the " thousand causes, which would take a long time to explain". There are many similar events in history, which people over-simplify but which are often very difficult and complicated to explain properly.; March 19, 2011 at 12:36:00 PM EDT
Julygirl said...: How poignant!; March 19, 2011 at 8:21:00 PM EDT
lara77 said...: Those words of King Louis XVI struck such a nerve; he had the misfortune to be King of France when all the injustices of the past caught up with the present in late 18th century France. I will always believe in my heart he wanted what was best for France. He was human in his limitations; one man against centuries of injustice. Yet, I know as many of your readers that he was one of the kindest, most gentle and good men that ever sat on the Throne of France.; March 20, 2011 at 2:40:00 PM EDT