Tea at Trianon: Petit Trianon: The French Pavilion

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

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Petit Trianon: The French Pavilion

From Tatiana's Tea Room:

The French Pavilion (le pavillon français) which now stands as the central gem of the Petit Trianon’s formal French Gardens was actually completed in 1750, a few years prior to the building of the Petit Trianon itself. Designed by the Louis XV’s chief architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel at the instigation of Madame Pompadour this miniature palace was intended as a summer gaming/dining room. Thirty years later, Marie Antoinette would also use it for private concerts given by lantern light. The main salon is octagonal with an inlaid marble floor and is surrounded by four cabinets in a cruciform arrangement. The walls are gilded with cherubs highlighting each entrance. Cherubs & birds are also featured on the circular cornice which is supported by eight Corinthian columns. Four arched French doors provide light, exterior views and access. (Read more.)