Tea at Trianon: A Book for Anne of Brittany

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

Friday, June 25, 2021

A Book for Anne of Brittany

From Getty's Iris Blog:

The manuscript was made around 1493 for Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, shortly after her marriage to King Charles VIII in 1491 when she was just fourteen years old. Tales of mourning women who met tragic ends through the betrayal of their partners might not seem like an appropriate wedding gift for a teenage bride, but the images do provide examples of female empowerment through taking control of their own narratives. Writing is a form of authority that was not often associated with women in the ancient or medieval worlds. Here, the foregrounding of female self-expression might be interpreted as a model for the young queen.

The manuscript culminates with a distinctive image of the young Queen Anne seated under a cloth of honor, accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting. Resplendently dressed in a rich red gown highlighted with gold, she wears a crown atop a black headdress. Like all the illuminations in the manuscript, it was painted by an anonymous artist who is called the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse (active from around 1490 to 1510). Hallmarks of the master’s style that can be seen here include figures that are characterized by prominent foreheads, downcast hooded eyes, rosebud lips, and pale skin tones, as well as the use of bold colors and liquid gold in the draperies and architectural details. (Read more.)