A portrait of Madame Campan by an unidentified artist, circa early 19th century. Set to be auctioned by Millon.
marie antoinette and more
The story of the giant ship that sank on its maiden voyage is so rife with symbolism that if it hadn’t actually happened, we might have had to invent it.
Yet it did happen, on that cold, clear April night in 1912. And it happened to real people—stokers, millionaires, society ladies, parsons, parlormaids—people who displayed a full range of all-too-human reactions as the events of the night unfolded. The recollections of those who survived, conflicting and embroidered though they often are, allow us to place ourselves on that sloping deck and ask: “What would we do?”
The unsinkable story sails on.
–Hugh Brewster, Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage
“Those who fall under the spell of that famous night will always have their own favorite vignette as a special memorial–perhaps the band, or the Strauses, or the eight Goodwins clinging together. And there will always be the memory of that last glimpse of the Titanic as she stood in 1912–stern high; her black silhouette pointing like an accusing finger at the stars; then gliding slowly out of sight, leaving her handful of lifeboats alone in an empty sea.”— Walter Lord, The Night Lives On, 1986
(via beyondthegoblincity)
…there have been massive changes in the world since 1912. We don’t even cross the ocean the same way now, and two great wars have numbed us to casualty lists. Compared to the implications of a nuclear confrontation, the figures of “souls lost” in a shipwreck–any shipwreck–seem almost quaint. Given the world today, one might suppose that people would no longer be gripped by the Titanic. Not so. She has never been more with us than now.
–Walter Lord, The Night Lives On (1986)
Madame Campan, on her consideration of Marie Antoinette’s desire for simplcity compared to the grandeur of the court she witnessed when she (Campan) was first presented there:
… all this magnificence had such an effect on my senses that I could scarcely support myself when introduced to the Princesses. The first day of my reading in the inner apartment of Madame Victoire I found it impossible to pronounce more than two sentences; my heart palpitated, my voice faltered, and my sight failed. How well understood was the potent magic of the grandeur and dignity which ought to surround sovereigns!
Marie Antoinette, dressed in white, with a plain straw hat, and a little switch in her hand, walking on foot, followed by a single servant, through the walks leading to the Petit Trianon, would never have thus disconcerted me; and I believe this extreme simplicity was the first and only real mistake of all those with which she is reproached.
I do love spotting Marie Antoinette in the wild! This miniature, called simply a portrait of a lady, is set to be auctioned by Subarna Subastas. But I wouldn’t hesitate to say that it’s Marie Antoinette.
An 18th century bust of Marie Antoinette after Boizot; it was originally in the collection of Augustin Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord. Set to be auctioned by Artesia.
Anonymous asked:
Hello! Are you going to continue your reviews or commentary on the newest season of Marie Antoinette? It’s good to hear a voice of reason. I know I definitely have thoughts. I cannot believe what they are doing to the memory of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. I’m tired of the Fersen crap and people acting like she did not love her husband. In terms of season 2, she’s making really stupid decisions and it’s bothering me. Don’t get me started on Louis not being the father of two of the children
hi! I am, I’ve been watching the episodes on my own, I just don’t have the time/energy for threads at the moment because they take about 2 hours per episode lol.
The show is uhhHhh. It takes some turns. It definitely takes some turns, that’s all I’ll say for now.
I also still have to do a proper write-up of season 1, but I think I’d like to do that with season 2 in mind.