Tea at Trianon: The Great Delacroix

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, August 28, 2016

The Great Delacroix

From Geri Walton:

Supporting the rumors that Talleyrand was Delacroix’s real father is the fact that Talleyrand was a well-known womanizer. It was also reported that “Delacroix looked like Talleyrand, exhibited many of his behavioral traits, and was anonymously supported by the foreign minister during his early years.” However, today most contemporary historians who have examined this father-son connection do not believe Delacroix was Talleyrand’s son.

Although Delacroix’s paternity may be interesting, what is perhaps more intriguing is four numerous near-death experiences Delacroix experienced by the age of three. The first of these occurred when his nurse fell with him in her arms into the sea. She was saved by some courageous sailors, who were said to be the cause of the calamity in the first place, as she was more attentive to them than herself or Delacroix. The next unfortunate incident resulted in Delacroix suffering serious injuries after almost being burnt to death in his cradle that caught fire. The third event occurred when someone accidentally left verdigris out and he decided to try it. If these three incidents were not frightening enough, Delacroix supposedly added to them one day when he decided to hang himself so he could feel the sensation. Luckily, someone found him and saved him in the nick of time. (Read more.)