Tea at Trianon: Venice and Versailles

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, May 10, 2022

Venice and Versailles

From The Express:

Located just outside Paris, the Palace of Versailles is one of the world’s most opulent buildings. The national landmark is the former royal residence of Louis XIV, who used the palace as a way of controlling the French aristocracy. It was originally built for Louis XIII in the 17th Century as a relatively modest hunting lodge. However, the site underwent major renovations during the reign of Louis XIV, who transformed it into the mega-palace we know today. The Sun King is thought to have shelled out £1.5billion in today’s money on the building to create the building of his dreams. Louis would host up to 10,000 royals, aristocrats, and courtiers in the enormous 700-room building. One of the most famous parts of the palace is the Hall of Mirrors, which features 17 arches filled with 257 mirrors. Due to the sheer scale of this room, during construction Louis’ finance minister was forced to turn to Venetian mirror makers to provide huge quantities of bespoke glass, which could not be made in France. The Italian craftsmen were part of a secretive guild in Venice who were threatened with their lives if they took their glass-making skills abroad. (Read more.)