I have mixed feelings towards Mark Twain. This is, after all, the man who dared write of Jane Austen, “Every time I read Pride and Prejudice, I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone.” Shocking. Yes, I know, now some will tell us that he didn’t really [...]
Once in a while I find lesser known pictures of these fascinating ladies, daughters of Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszczynska. I have also updated the posts. Check out the new images, in particular the beautiful portrait of Madame Louise, in her Carmelite’s scapulaire. Madame Elisabeth, the ambitious Duchess of Parma (left, by Nattier) Madame [...]
I was amazed by the quality of the images on the official Versailles site, in particular the gorgeous paintings of the ceiling. You cannot see the Chapel any better, even if you visit Versailles, Most visitors are only admitted to the upper level, where the royal family heard Mass from a central tribune (whence, in [...]
One of the joys of the month of May is the sight and fragrance of lilac blossoms. Lilacs adorned the gardens of Versailles and Trianon. They had been great favorites with Louis XIV, and Marie-Antoinette enjoyed them no less in her private domain of Trianon. She liked them so much that, when it came to [...]
Karin, the Alien Parisienne, has a lavishly illustrated post about her visit to Versailles. Check out the pictures, they will transport you there. Selfishly I picked this one: see, a blue damask background, as on this blog and my website… Ah!
This may look like the other costumes displayed at this year’s Court Pomp and Ceremony exhibition at Versailles. But this picture is deceptive: this is in fact but a half-size model of a French court gown. Ordinary fine ladies, unlike the royal family of Sweden, could not rely on their own ambassadors to keep informed [...]
Well, my post on 18th century court costume was one of my most successful, and I could not help noticing that it attracted comments from gentlemen readers. Yet it only featured one set of male clothes, the astonishing wedding suit of the Crown Prince of Sweden, future King Gustaf III. So the idea came naturally [...]
This is the theme of a new exhibition at Versailles opening on October 20. Personal tastes and public image of an extraordinary character. This should one of the great shows this fall in and around Paris. Stay tuned…
New in the United States, that is, because it was published last year in the UK. I saw this review in the New York Times. What the NYT reviewer does not mention is that Ms. Buckley’s book had created quite a stir, in that it cited as a prominent source the Secret Diary of Louis [...]
I saw the Court Pomp and Royal Ceremony exhibition at Versailles on its closing day last June and would have hated to miss it. My expectations were very high, and yet I could not help being somewhat disappointed, not by the quality of the objects on display, which were magnificent, but by their scarcity. I [...]
Now in trade paperback.
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