Tea at Trianon: White Dress, Blue Sash

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

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

White Dress, Blue Sash

Marie-Antoinette wore a great deal of white, often accompanied by a blue sash. I have gathered a few examples.

Marie-Antoinette, 1774

Marie-Antoinette, around 1778. There is no sash because she appears to be wearing a maternity dress.

Marie-Antoinette, 1780-85


Marie-Antoinette as the Muse Erato, 1788

Marie-Antoinette, 1788

Marie-Antoinette, 1780's

Marie-Antoinette, 1790

Madame Royale, 1790

Below is a Gainsborough portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, whom Marie-Antoinette received whenever the Duchess was in France.

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

For more information on the portraits of the Queen, visit our forum. Share

2 comments:

Unknown said...: The images you collected are fabulous!! Thank you for shring them....

I love the clothing and textiles...

http://aroundeverycornerat.blogspot.com/

If you get a chance, pls visit mine..
Jenny; November 28, 2012 at 2:23:00 PM EST
May said...: What a gracious and delightful lady she must have been.; November 30, 2012 at 10:47:00 PM EST