Versailles and More

Emma, Lady Hamilton, seen by Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

I enjoy following Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, one the most famous and successful portraitists of her time, to the private apartments of Queen Marie-Antoinette at Versailles, to Regency England, or to the salons of Napoléon’s sisters. Today we will accompany Madame Vigée-Lebrun to Italy, where she emigrated as early as 1789, at the onset of the French Revolution. After visiting the court of Turin, then Rome, she headed for Naples, where reigned Queen Maria Carolina of Austria, Marie-Antoinette’s elder (and favorite) sister. The British ambassador there, in the midst of the international political turmoil, was no other than Sir William Hamilton. His companion was a young beauty, Amy Lyon, who went by the name of Emma Hart. Let us listen to Madame Lebrun’s Memoirs, as she recalls her acquaintance with the future Lady Hamilton:

Sir William Hamilton, the British Ambassador to Naples, came to me and begged that my first portrait in this town should be that of the splendid woman he presented to me. This was Madame Hart, who soon after became Lady Hamilton, and who was famous for her beauty… I then painted Madame Hart as a bacchante reclining by the edge of the sea, holding a goblet in her hand. Her beautiful face had much animation… she had a great quantity of fine chestnut hair, sufficient to cover her entirely, and thus, as a bacchante with flying hair, she was admirable to behold.

The life of Lady Hamilton is a romance. Her maiden name was Emma Lyon. Her mother, it is said, was a poor servant, and there is some disagreement as to her birthplace. At the age of thirteen she entered the service of an honest townsman of Hawarden as a nurse, but, tired of the dull life she led, and believing she could obtain a more agreeable situation in London, she betook herself thither. The Prince of Wales told me that he had seen her at that time in wooden shoes at the stall of a fruit vendor, and that, although she was very poorly clad, her pretty face attracted attention (more…)

Marie Antoinette’s unsung legacy to French food: the croissant

If you watched Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, you know that the Queen liked to be surrounded by pyramids of gorgeous pastries and followed a strict macaroon-and-champagne diet. Or did she?

Well, according to contemporary accounts, not at all. The etiquette required the King and Queen to take some of their meals in public, in front of the courtiers and visitors. Anyone decently dressed was admitted in Versailles, and many came to the Palace to watch the royal couple eat.

The Marquise de La Tour du Pin, who was a lady-in-waiting to Marie-Antoinette, attended those occasions. She notes in her Memoirs that “the King ate with a hearty appetite, but the Queen did not remove her gloves, nor did she unfold her napkin, in which she was very ill-advised.”

Marie-Antoinette literally did not touch her food (more…)

Citizen Jean-Baptiste Belley: from slavery to the Convention Nationale

This Portrait of Citizen Jean-Baptiste Belley by the famous French artist Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, caught my eye, even though I knew nothing of the model. This painting is – literally – revolutionary.

Not because it represents a Black man. Representations of men and women of African descent in early-modern European paintings were not uncommon, as explained by Carlyn Beccia. But, with exceptions such as Juan de Pareja, assistant to Velasquez (thanks to Susan Holloway Scott for the link!) these had no name. They were simply “generic” Blacks, usually depicted in a subservient position.

In this portrait not only does Citizen Belley have a name, but he also holds high public office, as attested by the tricolor sash tied around his waist and the tricolor plume on his hat. Who was this Belley? I wanted to know.

The most detailed information I was able to find about him was on the site of the Association de Généalogie d’Haiti (in French.)

It seems that Belley was born on the coast of West Africa in 1746 or 1747. Around the age of two, he was abducted and sold into slavery in Saint-Domingue, modern-day Haiti.

Little is known of his life as a slave, except that he was allowed to pursue a trade and earn enough money to eventually purchase his own freedom. He clearly received an education, either before or after his emancipation (more…)