Tea at Trianon: Le Grand Mazarin

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

Monday, October 23, 2017

Le Grand Mazarin

The famous pink diamond from the French Crown jewels. From Christie's:

The stone, which will be offered on 14 November in the Magnificent Jewels sale at Christie’s in Geneva, takes its name from Cardinal Mazarin, who became France’s Chief Minister in 1642. Toward the end of his life, Mazarin assembled a collection of 18 exceptional gems. Purchased from the royal families of Europe or sourced from the jeweller Lescot, they were the most beautiful jewels on the Continent.

Of the 18, eight were ‘square cut’ diamonds; the largest of these was known as the Grand Mazarin. These stones became part of the French crown jewels and would remain the favourites of the French royal family for more than 200 years, having first passed from Mazarin to King Louis XIV — The Sun King — in 1661, when the French ruler was only 23 years old.

Louis’ wife, Maria Theresa of Austria, is likely to have been the first person to wear the Grand Mazarin. After Maria Theresa’s death, Louis XIV added the Grand Mazarin to his chain of diamonds, set in descending size order, on which it remained for many years. The Sun King’s 72-year reign would leave its indelible mark on French history — the Château of Versailles, whose construction he supervised, has left to posterity the image of a king enamoured by grandeur.(Read more.)