Tea at Trianon: From an Old Book

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 6, 2017

From an Old Book

A little-known 1781 portrait of Marie-Antoinette by Madame Vigée-Lebrun, from the Haldane Macfall book on the artist. Via Le Boudoir de Marie-Antoinette. Share

2 comments:

Diamantina, aka Gentillylace said...: Beautiful painting! I like Marie-Antoinette's smile :-)

I tried to find out about the painting's location: the Hessische Stiftung ("Hessian House Foundation"), located in Kronberg im Taunus, Germany. Google directed me to the website of the Schlosshotel Kronberg, which was built as the Schloss Friedrichshof for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter. I suppose the painting was part of her collection, and can be found in the hotel. This makes me want to go to Germany and stay at the Schlosshotel Kronberg! I suppose that will only happen after I win big in the lottery....; August 7, 2017 at 1:08:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you so much, Diamantia, for sharing your research with us! That is so interesting!; August 7, 2017 at 8:35:00 AM EDT