Tea at Trianon: Allegory of the Death of Louis XV

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, May 15, 2015

Allegory of the Death of Louis XV

The nun in the upper left hand corner is Louis XV's youngest daughter Madame Louise who devoted her adult life to praying for the salvation of her father's soul. From Reading Treasure:

Louis XV had once been called the "Most Beloved," but by the time of his death in 1774, he had squandered the good will of the people with years of unpopular decisions, increasing isolation from anyone outside his court circle, and visible, expensive mistresses who made convenient scapegoats for the king's decisions. His death ushered in a wave of hopes, pressure and expectations from the French people for their new king, the young Louis-Auguste, now Louis XVI, and his young queen.

Perhaps nothing illustrations the immediacy of these expectations than this engraving published in 1774 as 'An Allegory of the Death of Louis XV.' Rather than resembling the standard allegory of the death of royalty--which usually depict them being welcomed into heaven by angels, cherubs and other heavenly creatures--Louis XV is shown in barefoot, in simple clothing with a traveler's walking stick; he is being shown portraits of his living family, the hope for France. It is his remaining family, and not Louis XV himself, who are being draped with flower garlands and celebrated.

To illustrate the point even further, this engraving was accompanied by the following poem, which refers to Louis XV as 'the subject of regret.'

What an important spectacle this tableau presents you!
An august family still flourishing
Contemplate here these portraits
See--there, gathered under the eyes of France
Along with the subject of regret
Those of its deepest expectation
Marie Antoinette remarked on these expectations in a letter to her mother several months after the death of her 'grandpapa king': "... I worry a little about this French enthusiasm when it comes to the future. ... opinion is divided, and it will be impossible to please everyone in a country where people are so impatient that they want everything done immediately." (Read more.)

The North Coast said...: What insight and wisdom from a young queen barely 20 years old, and what a contrast with the naivete, immaturity, and grossly inflated expectations of the typical modern American of any age.; May 15, 2015 at 2:12:00 AM EDT