Tea at Trianon: Life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Art

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, November 17, 2019

Life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Art

St Elizabeth of Hungary Spinning for the Poor by Marianne Stokes (1855–1927)

The Devout Childhood Of Saint Elizabeth Of Hungary, 1852 by Charles Alston Collins

Elizabeth and her husband Ludwig shown with St Francis of Assisi – The German text reads : Founding of the Third Order – It is thought that Elizabeth did not meet with Francis, however, he sent her a personal message of blessing shortly before his death in 1226.

From Franciscan Seculars:

Saint Elizabeth [1207 -1231] is one of the two Patron Saints of the OFS [the other is King Louis XI of France]. We celebrate her feast day on 17th November. Born to wealth and royalty she married at a young age and was widowed by the time she was 20. She felt a great conflict between her royal status and the living standards of the poor. During 1223 she met some Franciscan Friars and embraced what St Francis had to say and turned her life-style more towards his. She assumed control of the royal household, distributing alms, giving away state garments and selling ornaments from her castle to help the poor. She arranged and paid for a hospital to be built for the poor and would make daily visits.

In paintings and iconography Saint Elizabeth is often shown with loaves of bread or beautiful red and white roses in her apron – this event of often referred to as the Miracle of the Roses – Elizabeth had gathered together some food including meats and bread and whilst taking them secretly to the poor she met her husband “who, in order to quell suspicions of the gentry that she was stealing treasure from the castle, asked her to reveal what was hidden under her cloak. In that moment, her cloak fell open and a vision of white and red roses could be seen, which proved to Ludwig that God’s protecting hand was at work.” (Read more.)