Tea at Trianon: Drawings of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

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, May 29, 2019

Drawings of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

From The Telegraph:

Queen Victoria's drawings of her children, which cast doubt on her reputation as a "bad mother", are to go on display for the first time. Rare etchings made by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the early years of their marriage will be exhibited by the British Museum in London to mark the bicentenary of both their births.

The museum will house a free display, called At Home: Royal Etchings by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, from July to September. The etchings - a type of printmaking involving drawing on a metal plate - were completed by Victoria and Albert in the 1840s, and museum curators say they show the royals "in a completely different light". The display will consist of 20 artworks by the couple, often depicting domestic scenes of their life in Windsor and Claremont and featuring their children and pets.

The British Museum said the royals were "talented and enthusiastic amateur artists" whose works were often collaborations, with some of the etchings by Albert based on Victoria's earlier drawings. Victoria and Albert took up etching shortly after their marriage in 1840 with the help of revered painter Sir George Hayter.

The royals had only wanted their pieces to be seen by close friends and family, but King George V - Victoria's grandson - donated them to the British Museum in 1926. The exhibit will mark the first time they have been on public display.

Sheila O'Connell, curator of prints and drawings at the British Museum, said: "As parents, both Victoria and Albert have been much criticised, but these images show them in a completely different light."

The scenes Victoria depicts in her drawings show her to be a very affectionate mother, and it's clear that both she and Albert enjoyed spending time with their children. "We're delighted that we can now put these works on display for the first time since King George V donated them to us. It is the perfect way to celebrate 200 years since the birth of these towering figures of British history, who were also enthusiastic artists." (Read more.)

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