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 [...]
Without Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun’s many portraits of Marie-Antoinette, our mental image of the Queen would be different, so iconic have these paintings become. All the more reason to look into the relationship between the two ladies. And what better way to do so than return to Madame Lebrun’s Memoirs? It was in the year 1779, she [...]
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 [...]
I first thought of the view of the Conciergerie as a background for my website and posted it with this idea. Then Elena Maria Vidal of Tea at Trianon and other readers, on and off the blog, suggested using it as a header. I tried it, and it worked! As Elena remarks, it fits my first [...]
Christmas in the 18th century was not the holiday we know these days. Of course, the religious celebration of the holiday of the Nativity of Christ was the same, but gifts, know as étrennes, were not exchanged until the 1st of January. Yet people liked to take advantage of the pleasures of the season. Marie-Antoinette, [...]
The last few posts have brought back memories of the dethroned Queen while she was imprisoned in the Tower of the Temple, beginning in August 1792. The following December, her husband, Louis XVI, stands trial before the National Convention, the elected body that now governs France. Louis is executed on the 21st of January 1793. [...]
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 [...]
In the 18th century international travel was far more expensive, dangerous and difficult than we can imagine today, and of course much slower. A princess who married into a foreign court might never see her family again. State visits by foreign monarchs were exceptional affairs. The etiquette of Versailles, while specific on the reception of [...]
A follow-up on my post on Marie-Anne-Victoire. There are at least two connections between the Infanta Queen and Marie-Antoinette. First, the Queen of Portugal and her husband, King Joseph I, were godparents to the little Archduchess. Of course, this did not mean that they would have attended the baptism and later acted as spiritual guides [...]
Another great post by Elena Maria at Tea at Trianon on the ceremony and festivities: On May 16, 1770 the Dauphin Louis-Auguste of France married Marie-Antoinette Archduchess of Austria… (more) And, as promised, I will post shortly on other Versailles royal weddings. See also my prior post on 18th century bridal attire.
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