Tea at Trianon: The Colors of Snow

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, February 18, 2012

The Colors of Snow

From Under the Gables:

"People used to think me queer when I was a little girl because I saw deep purples and red and violets in a field of snow. I used to be hurt over it until I gave up trying to understand people and concentrated on my love and understanding of landscapes," Fern Isabel Coppedge once related. She had wanted to be an artist since she was 13 years old and became more enamored with the idea when her family moved to California from her native Illinois and she attended her sister's watercolor class. (Read entire post.)

May said...: Beautiful...have you seen Akira Kurosawa's film "Dreams", Elena?; February 18, 2012 at 12:34:00 PM EST
tubbs said...: one word - homesick!

I miss snow.; February 18, 2012 at 3:20:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Never saw it, M.; February 18, 2012 at 4:36:00 PM EST
May said...: I highly recommend it. There are scenes that remind me of this painting.; February 18, 2012 at 6:22:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I'll get it on Netflix!; February 18, 2012 at 6:27:00 PM EST
julygirl said...: Even though our world has dimension we ordinary people view it in a sort of 'flat' way and that goes for the tones as well as colors. It takes the brilliance of autumn smacking us in the face before we are really aware of all the nuances of tone and color in our world, as an example, a green wooded area.; February 18, 2012 at 10:52:00 PM EST