Tea at Trianon: Apotheosis of Louis XVII

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

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Apotheosis of Louis XVII

From Vive la Reine. Louis XVII is welcomed into heaven by (left to right) an angel, his aunt Madame Elisabeth, his father Louis XVI, a maiden in armor (Jehanne d'Arc? La France?), a small child who is probably Louis-Joseph, and his mother Marie-Antoinette. The angel is crowning Elisabeth with the white crown of virginity. The angel carrying Louis-Charles is delivering him from a serpent who is snapping at his feet. Share

5 comments:

tubbs said...: Melodramatic schmalz, right? I just don't think so. Now that the story behind that most unfortunate family is told, well, this picture is very moving. I would love to have a small copy of it framed. Thanks, EM.; March 4, 2012 at 12:59:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I want a framed copy, too. I find it very moving.; March 4, 2012 at 1:15:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: Such a beautiful and touching piece! Just wonderful.; March 4, 2012 at 4:21:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you! Welcome!; March 4, 2012 at 4:39:00 PM EST
May said...: Very beautiful, and, I am sure, a very accurate depiction of the truth of the matter.; March 4, 2012 at 11:38:00 PM EST