Tea at Trianon: The Salon of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte

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, October 28, 2011

The Salon of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte

In the Tuileries palace, when she was Dauphine of France from 1824-1830. (Via Vive la Reine.) Where Amber finds rare pictures like this, I do not know. Notice the spartan quality of the room. Share

3 comments:

Anna Gibson said...: I find most of the rare images at: http://gallica.bnf.fr/

It's an amazing resource! Particularly for images about the queen and her family that you don't see very often.; October 28, 2011 at 1:05:00 PM EDT
Gio said...: I agree, she always has beautiful, rare photos.

And Anna, thanks for sharing your source. :); October 29, 2011 at 3:11:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: I like spartan,(particularly the graceful discipline the Asian/Eastern aesthetic) I find it easier to read the values of goodness, truth and beauty: what is there, is there for a reason.
Thank you for posting images, particularly rarely seen ones (I even google-translated the inscription on one of your recent posts that resembled a modern family album picture frame with cherubs so fascinated was I by the composition of the artist). Now that would be TV show I would love to see on EWTN - a kinda "History Detectives :: Catholic Edition"

Viewers could send in photos or video clips of unusual heirlooms that they are unsure of their religious significance, and have art and ecclesiastic experts unpack the rare treasure's deeper, truer value. We are such a visually illiterate society IMHO.; October 30, 2011 at 4:46:00 PM EDT