Tea at Trianon: The Daughter of a King

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, August 31, 2013

The Daughter of a King

From Vive la Reine: "A bust of Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, duchesse d’Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette by Achille-Joseph-Étienne Valois." Share

3 comments:

May said...: A majestic woman, commanding respect and reminding us to be on our best behavior. ;); September 1, 2013 at 2:42:00 PM EDT
Unknown said...: What a lovely bust of the Duchess of Angouleme, I know a lot of people say she looked very much like a Bourbon, but, for me, this bust bears a strong resemblance to Marie Antoinette, and the Habsburg's regal look. Lovely.; September 2, 2013 at 3:20:00 AM EDT
HJ33 said...: A very majestic bust of La Duchesse. It's sad to see that her life was tumultuous, and in the process lost those closest to her heart.; October 1, 2017 at 1:47:00 AM EDT