Tea at Trianon: Ancient Greek Masterpieces Were Painted in Dazzling Colors

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, May 9, 2022

Ancient Greek Masterpieces Were Painted in Dazzling Colors

Just like the medieval cathedrals. From Greek Reporter:

It is nearly impossible to imagine the sparkling white sculptures of ancient Greece painted in a variety of bright colors. Marveling at the ancient Greek masterpieces today, there is a notion ingrained in our minds that all those magnificent sculptures were originally spotless white marble and time has robbed some of them of their glorious sheen. We tend to think that iconic statues such as Hermes, the Winged Victory, and the Venus de Milo were plain marble sculptures that are just missing some parts, as well as their gleaming white skin. However, it is now certain that ancient Greek sculptors used bright colors, as well as gold and ivory, to further beautify the magnificent structures they created. In fact, most of them were dazzling in their color schemes, which was essential to the overall impact the sculptures were intended to create. (Read more.)