Marie-Antoinette's sleigh rides
It has been a long time since we discussed Marie-Antoinette, and my thanks go to Gabriela for an opportunity to write a guest post on her blog. The story of the sleigh rides is taken from Madame Campan's Memoirs. Marie-Antoinette is only twenty at the time, but already she is extremely unpopular.
Her love of sleigh rides is ascribed to her Austrian origins. Also the fact that she was obviously and publicly enjoying winter amusements while the poorest in Paris froze to death on the streets caused much resentment.
Last but not least, the Queen's sister-in-law, the Comtesse d'Artois, had just given birth to a son and heir, while the Queen herself would not present the King with a Dauphin until 1781, six years later. Vicious, lewd pamphlets circulated in Paris, fostering rumors that the Marie-Antoinette had many lovers, bot male and female.
Also this is precisely the time when Marie-Antoinette became friends with another lady who would meet a tragic end during the Revolution: the Princesse de Lamballe. One must of course avoid the temptation of reading too much into this in retrospect, but Madame Campan gives us the rather sad conclusion: the sleigh rides were abandoned after that one winter of Paris discontent, never to resume.
Her love of sleigh rides is ascribed to her Austrian origins. Also the fact that she was obviously and publicly enjoying winter amusements while the poorest in Paris froze to death on the streets caused much resentment.
Last but not least, the Queen's sister-in-law, the Comtesse d'Artois, had just given birth to a son and heir, while the Queen herself would not present the King with a Dauphin until 1781, six years later. Vicious, lewd pamphlets circulated in Paris, fostering rumors that the Marie-Antoinette had many lovers, bot male and female.
Also this is precisely the time when Marie-Antoinette became friends with another lady who would meet a tragic end during the Revolution: the Princesse de Lamballe. One must of course avoid the temptation of reading too much into this in retrospect, but Madame Campan gives us the rather sad conclusion: the sleigh rides were abandoned after that one winter of Paris discontent, never to resume.
Posted by Catherine Delors at 11/19/2009 3:35 AM 
Categories: sleighs,Madame Campan,Boucher,Marie Antoinette
Tags: sleighs Madame Campan Boucher Marie Antoinette
Categories: sleighs,Madame Campan,Boucher,Marie Antoinette
Tags: sleighs Madame Campan Boucher Marie Antoinette
I was on Gabriella Dellworth's blog and read about you I can not wait to pick up these books and read about Marie! Happy Holidays! Grace
Reply to this
Lovely seasonal post! I've just been over to Gabriela's blog to read it and I added Mme de Genlis' description of the sleigh rides in my comment.
Reply to this
I remember reading about the sledding in Campan. but i put the book back on the shelf until after i read some more history. it seems she did not do much to change her image. today she would be surrounded by all kinds of media experts and public relations and there would be counter pamphlets against her enemies. she also would not have been allowed to push Gluck on Paris or Versailles or wherever he worked. they would make sure she had photo ops at orphanages and hospitals and with the Maternal Charity. too bad neither she nor her husband had the pr of Napoleon.
Reply to this
Happy holidays to you as well, Grace!
Helena - I saw your excellent comment about Madame de Genlis and, if you don't mind, will reproduce an excerpt here:
"Madame de Genlis, who attended Marie Antoinette’s sleighing parties, wrote a description of them:
The Queen introduced sleighing parties, which were organised like this: the Queen invited the women she wanted to be there. When she invited the princesses, she sent a page to convey her personal invitation to those of the princesses’ ladies-in-waiting it pleased her to choose; usually she only asked one at a time. Everyone met at the Queen’s at midday for luncheon; all the men dined together in another room. The Queen never ate in the company of men when the King was not present. The Queen had all the ladies seated at her table. We had quite a long lunch-dinner; then, we went into a salon where we rejoined all the men. Then, as one had to be escorted by lords, as people said in those days, the Queen and the princesses named those who would escort them, and all the ladies relied on chance and drew lots; a very prudent custom which avoided the inconveniences of favouritism and malicious gossip. We went from Versailles to country houses, to La Muette, to Meudon, etc. There, we descended from the sleighs, went into a salon, got warm, chatted for three-quarters of an hour or an hour; after that, we got back into the sledges and returned to Versailles."
Penny, you are right! MA would have greatly benefited from a PR consultant. But, to be fair, some of the things that made her so unpopular were well beyond her control.
Reply to this
The sleighing parties sound like fun! Marie Leczinska must have held them too because one of her sleighs survives. Also in Louis XIV's time the courtiers would have sleigh races on the frozen Grand Canal. But as soon as MA did it she was criticised.
I was particularly interested by what Mme de Genlis says about the custom of drawing lots - obviously otherwise rumours would have started about who was having an affair with who!
Reply to this
Lovely post but how sad that Marie had to abandon something that gave her pleasure. But at least once she knew that it was not going down well, she stopped.
Reply to this
I have always loved this painting (Bucher, right?). Is it actually a portrait of Marie Antoinette, or a more general sleighing scene?
I have always thought Princesse de Lamballe is an often ignored but interesting and tragic figure in the Revolution saga.
Reply to this
Ah, Tristan, I wish I had found a picture of MA on a sleigh! But no such luck. I guess they were too unpopular and short-lived to warrant a portrait.
Indeed this is a Boucher. I had to be content with a general allegory of winter, part of a four seasons series currently at the Frick Collection in NY. And it's not even a horse-drawn sleigh, but this was the closest I could get to illustrate my subject.
As for the Princesse de Lamballe, yes, she is a tragic figure, worthy of her own post one of these days.
Reply to this
This is what the catalogue of the Wallace Collection's Boucher exhibition has to say about it:
"This was one of four Seasons, painted in 1755, whose shape and relatively small size imply that they were incorporated into decorative panelling or above mirrors. Spring and Autumn are represented by pastoral scenes, Summer by a bathing scene and Winter by this fashionable young lady being pushed in a sleigh by a rather Cossack-looking gentleman."
The composition is beautiful - look how the curve of the woman's neck is echoed by the curve of the swan on the front of the sleigh. There are parallels between the two figures as well - both wearing blue contrasted with a shade of red, but for him it's crimson, for her a more feminine peachy pink. The blue ribbon streaming back from her hair gives a nice sense of movement. The sleigh and the upholstery are realistic - I've seen surviving sleighs like them - but the lady is showing a bit more decolletage than would be likely on a cold winter day!
Reply to this
I have a painting of this scene left by my stepfather from Montreal. It's a lovely painting and don't know the worth of it? Anyone know?
Reply to this