Tea at Trianon: Antique Altar Cards

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

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Antique Altar Cards

Hand-illuminated. From Liturgical Arts Journal:

In the past we have shown some contemporary approaches to hand-illuminated altar cards, but today we are going to focus on an antique approach to the same. This particular set comes by way of the Musée de la Visitation located in Moulin, France -- which, incidentally, is a veritable treasure trove of liturgical art ranging from sacred vestments to sacred silver. (Their numerous published catalogues are well worth the price, even if you do not read French.)
This particular set of altar cards were done by a sister of the Visitation order, Sr. Joseph de Sales Gasse, in the late 19th century. Both the text and the illuminations surrounding it are hand-done and follow a programme of Marian imagery and themes. This imagery includes various scenes taken from the life of the Blessed Virgin as well as allegorical depictions of her various titles. Intermixed with these depictions are also various flowers, grapes, cornucopias and other decorative elements. (Read more.)