Yes, readers of Versailles and more get their May Day greetings from royalty… See how fortunate you are?
The custom of exchanging sprigs of lily-of-the-valley, a French tradition, is also popular in England. See this lovely painting by Winterhalter.
The baby in Victoria’s arms in Prince Arthur, her seventh child, and his mother’s indisputed favourite, more dear, she candidly admitted, than all the rest of her offspring put together. (more…)
Would this miniature represent the young Queen of France, only dressed in a sheer veil? This is the intriguing question begged by the superb exhibition of late 18th century miniatures at Philip Mould Gallery in London.
The exhibition Miniatures from the Time of Marie Antoinette offers an exceptional opportunity to view the delicate treasures of Tansey Collection, kept in Germany and usually closed to the public.
So by all means if you happen to be in London, and have any interest in 18th century art and history, pay the Philip Mould gallery a visit. Be prompt too, because the show closes very soon, on 13 November!
To go back to the alleged Marie Antoinette miniature, what are the grounds for the identification of the sitter with the Queen? For one thing, it is the work of court miniaturist Ignazio Pio Vittoriano Campana, known to have painted portraits of ladies of Marie Antoinette’s close circle.
More to the point, the nautical character of the work is obvious (more…)
Truth be told, Marie-Antoinette as a teenager and young woman very much enjoyed the outrageous hairstyles of her time, and during all of her years at Versailles she had to wear the court dress for all formal occasions.
But it is true that, as her taste matured, she came to appreciate the freedom of simple linen dresses. She even had her portrait painted in one of those by her favorite artist, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (left.)
Alas, that painting, to our modern eye far more modest than the low-cut court gowns, created a full-blown scandal: the Queen had herself painted in her chemise!
Imagine, to have an idea of the uproar at the time, the stunned reaction if we were to behold a portrait of the First Lady in her undergarments (more…)
I mentioned yesterday the remarkable exhibition Miniatures from the Time of Marie Antoinette at the Philip Mould Gallery. Certainly Marie Antoinette and her brother Emperor Joseph II are represented there, but the vast majority of the sitters in the collection are unknown ladies and gentlemen.
Why? Because, unlike grand portraits meant to be displayed in the galleries and salons of great houses, miniatures were designed as personal mementoes, much as photographs are now (more…)
Henri was known as le bon Roy, the good King. I found memoirs of the Revolution in which he is mentioned, almost 200 years after his death, as “the only king whose memory the people of France have treasured.” When the royal tombs at the Abbey of Saint-Denis were destroyed in 1793, an eyewitness reports that the embalmed body of Henri, perfectly preserved, was displayed in state in the Basilica, and that for days people filed in silence to pay their respects. And this at the height of the Revolution. (more…)
Parisians used to love to bathe in the Seine. Horrendous pollution notwithstanding, in the 18th century every summer saw people swimming in the river, generally in the nude. Only at the onset of the French Revolution was skinny-dipping outlawed, for men and women. Hence these early 19th century bathing suits, shown in a print posted by fellow historical novelist Susan Holloway Scott.
And speaking of Susan, I wish to remind everyone that her latest, The Countess and the King, was just released (more…)
When Jane Austen’s parents were married in 1764, the bride, Cassandra Leigh, wore a red riding habit to the ceremony. Cassandra was not being eccentric or making a fashion statement. Such dress was perfectly appropriate for a young woman from a genteel but not particularly wealthy family marrying a country parson (more…)
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