Tea at Trianon: Hidden from View

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

Friday, July 22, 2011

Hidden from View

This print, owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is a 1777 colored etching of Marie Antoinette by Jean-François Janinet.

Vive la Reine has some rare portraits of Marie-Antoinette that are kept at American museums but are currently not on display. I wonder why?


Etching from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York


Firescreen embroidered by Marie-Antoinette at the Metropolitan Museum of Art


An 1821 Sèvres bust of Marie Antoinette, Metropolitan Museum of Art

From The Walters Art Museum:
Portrait of Marie Antoinette circa 1774 by Peter Adolf Hall

From the National Gallery of Art: Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette Crowned by Love, 1775 (chalk with ink and watercolor) by Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Allegory on the Marriage of the Dauphin and Marie-Antoinette in 1770 by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin

Orchard Ville said...: Oh my gosh, thank you so much for posting this! I thought I have seen all portraits and paintings of her. I'm also wondering why it's in America...; July 22, 2011 at 6:55:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you! Wealthy Americans bought them overseas. Unfortunately, they are not on display.; July 22, 2011 at 9:08:00 AM EDT
tubbs said...: Now I know the sin of covetousness(sp?). I want that miniature!; July 22, 2011 at 11:25:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Me, too! It's lovely, isn't it?; July 22, 2011 at 11:41:00 AM EDT
Anna Gibson said...: I can understand when print portraits are left off display (I rarely see prints on display at all!) but it's so sad when paintings, particularly uncommon or unknown paintings, are kept in storage away from eyes forever. At least some museums do keep collections online and we can see the art - when I was putting together a guide on artwork that is on display in America, I came across so many pieces that were listed only with a title and a name and no picture!; July 22, 2011 at 12:21:00 PM EDT
anothertwocents said...: Don't bigger museums often display at most 10% to 20% of their inventory?; July 22, 2011 at 12:27:00 PM EDT
May said...: Beautiful woman. My favorite posts on Tea at Trianon are these about Marie-Antoinette and family:-); July 22, 2011 at 1:01:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: That's a shame Anna.

You're probably right, atc.

Thank you, Matterhorn. I try to post on other topics as well to show that Louis and Antoinette did not live and die in a vacuum. The Revolution which put them to death still influences us today in many ways. Similarly, there is still much good that remains, which they would appreciate.; July 22, 2011 at 3:29:00 PM EDT