Tea at Trianon: The Skater

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

Thursday, December 11, 2014

The Skater

From Madame Gilflurt:

In 1781 Stuart was approached by William Grant, a Scot who had designs on becoming the subject of the artist's first full-length portrait. Although apprehensive of embarking on the project, Stuart accepted and it was duly agreed that Grant would sit for the artist in a traditional pose.

On the day of the sitting, both artist and subject remarked on the crisp coldness of the air and discovered that they shared an enthusiasm for ice skating. As is so often the case one thing led to another and soon the painting was abandoned in favour of a trip to Hyde Park to skate on the frozen Serpentine. Here the men drew admiring onlookers as they showed off their skating prowess, spending the afternoon enjoying the outdoors in an all-too familiar display of procrastination.

Set apart from the other, distant skaters, Grant cuts a fine and fashionable figure upon the ice. Although one can glimpse the city on the horizon it might be a hundred miles away or more for all its import to those enjoying the simple pleasure of skating. However, though he is not alone on the ice, Grant utterly dominates the scene. His dark clothes stand out against the pale background and he looks away from us and off of the canvas, at something we cannot see.

The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1782 to great acclaim, attracting admiration for the unusual concept and the masterful execution. Stuart found his career catapulted into the stratosphere by the painting, the artist suddenly in high demand from the finest patrons. He was an apprentice no longer, and his life would never be the same. (Read more.)