Tea at Trianon: Statue With Rock Crystal Eyes

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

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Statue With Rock Crystal Eyes

From My Modern Met:

One of the most arresting features of the sculpture is its rock-crystal and copper eyes, which add stunning realism to the piece. Carved from sycamore wood, it is remarkable that the statue survived so well. One element that appears to have disintegrated is its originally plastered and painted outermost layer. Even so, the statue's level of preservation is quite impressive. And in a funny twist of fate upon its discovery, the figure had a striking resemblance to the mayor of the excavators' town. That is how the statue got one of its names—Sheikh el-Balad, meaning mayor or town leader in Arabic. Alongside this figure in the mastaba was a statue of a woman, also carved in wood. She is thought to be Ka'aper's wife. Today, the famous statue of Ka'aper is held at The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt. Many other gorgeous examples of Egyptian art can be found at the world-famous institution. (Read more.)