Tea at Trianon: An Exhibition of the Pink Diamond

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, October 24, 2026

An Exhibition of the Pink Diamond

From Château de Chantilly:

From October 17, 2026, to January 3, 2027, the Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly, in partnership with L’École des Arts Joailliers, is presenting an exhibition tracing the history of a legendary historical diamond: The Pink Diamond.

Known as the “Grand Condé,” the Pink Diamond is a historic stone weighing over 9 carats, documented in the collections of the Princes of Condé since the 18th century. This jewel, renowned for its exceptional color and provenance, was stolen in October 1926 but recovered shortly thereafter, hidden inside an apple.

A century later, the Pink Diamond is once again on public display as part of this special exhibition. To mark the occasion, the Musée Condé and L’École des Arts Joailliers have undertaken an extensive interdisciplinary research project—the first of its kind for a diamond of this caliber. Thanks to wide-ranging gemmological and historical analyses, all of its secrets are now being revealed. (Read more.)