Queen Marie Antoinette, Part II

[Eric_Lowe]

I agree that Marie Antoinette was much better suited to be a country countess than a Queen of France. Had she lived today, she would be more in tune to be a fashion model than a political figure. That was the message Sofia Coppola tried to make.

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

http://i54.tinypic.com/30m7dc7.jpg

I haven't checked that topic for a looong while, the little portrait on the necklace is so beautiful, the earrrings are supreb, impressive!! The sculpture is beautiful... but among these... being more specific about Reply #66 (the Spanish comic), where did you get it? I found it interesting. Do you have the whole story?

[timfromengland]

Quote
The end was Marie Antoinette and her family driving away from Versailles. This movie only covers the glory days of her life.
end quote
         Oh  no  !    Eric has spoiled the movie for me,  telling me that  "
 I was so looking forward to the first appearance of the  guillotines  ! if only to get rid
of some of the  more  anoying  actors and actresses !

[timfromengland]

QUOTE
(the Spanish comic), where did you get it? I found it interesting. Do you have the whole story?
END QUOTE
No  I must have found that on a troll through google   and just spotted that
fascinating  page ....  it  would be great to have the  full comic   ( in  english )

[Romanov_fan]

Marie's painting by gothic fairy artist Jasmine Beckett-Griffith (aka Strangeling)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of her most famous works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Emily x

Certainly a different take on Marie Antoinette..but I like it, it's playful.I hadn't seen it before..

[timfromengland]

Those romantic Balls  Marie attended in Paris during her
extravagent years,  must have looked  something like this
 

[CountessKate]

In fact there is a contemporary print of a masked ball given to the King and Queen by the City of Paris in January 1782, on the occasion of the birth of the Dauphin (they had attended a grand banquet a few days earlier).  It does give an idea of the lack of decorum in these sorts of events however - many indecorous costumes, the surge of people, the opportunities for all sorts of misbehaviour.  The very pretty illustrations above are more like the court balls, where the Queen could only dance very publicly, under the eye of the whole court, even if the ball was a costume ball or one with masks.  At the more public fetes (although in this particular case she would have been much more on show), Marie Antoinette could actually be almost invisible, in the midst of the crowd.  The romance didn't come from beautiful costumes or glittering decor or carriages, but from the thing she could get very little of - privacy. 

[miki_nastya]

does anybody know her favorite flowers? or color?

[CountessKate]

Cornflowers were a particular favorite of the Queen, and cornflower motifs are on many china and other decorative pieces made for her.  She also liked violets and roses.

Her favorite colours are more difficult to track, as she changed her preferences during her life.  She wore a great deal of white when she took up the simpler fashions of the 1780s, but when she got heavier and her complexion became less dazzling after her pregnancies she reverted to more formal dresses in colours which made her skin look better, giving up pink in particular as she felt it no longer suited her.  Her portraits show a lot of blue and red (in her less formal portraits, which would presumably show her preferences more than her state portraits), the colour puce (a sort of pinky brown) was invented for her, but in general it seemed she went for pastels in her youth and stronger darker colours after she turned thirty.

[miki_nastya]

 Today, 2 October, 256 years ago a little archduchess was born in the Imperial Court of Austria.
 She was destined to be the last Queen of France and one of the most tragic Queen in history.
                                                           Joyeux anniversaire

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

A quick tribute I made. It's not that impressive, but here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD5Ufi89sY8

[miki_nastya]

 Who was her favorite sister? Maria Carolina? or favorite brother?

[CountessKate]

Who was her favorite sister? Maria Carolina? or favorite brother?

Maria Carolina was unquestionably her favorite sister.  They had been brought up together and all their lives corresponded and demonstrated great fondness for one another.  It's not completely clear who was her favorite brother, though there are some indications.  Marie Antoinette was sandwiched between Ferdinand and Maximillian in the family but after nursery age, the upbringing of the Archduchesses and the Archdukes were separate and it's not obvious that Marie Antoinette had much of a continuing relationship with her brothers, although miniatures of Ferdinand and Maximillian, set in a ring, apparently gave her sentimental memories of childhood, and she always expressed pleasure at the prospect of family reunions.  But news was apparently passed on via the correspondence with her mother rather than directly with her brothers.  When Maximillian paid an incognito visit to France in 1775, he behaved  very boorishly which did him no good with the French court and although his sister supported him, Madame de Campan wrote that the Queen "was exceedingly mortified at the blunders committed by her brother".  Ferdinand and his wife Maria Beatrix d'Este visited Versailles in 1786 but the Queen was distracted by the Diamond Necklace affair, as the trial of the Cardinal de Rohan and the others accused of consipiracy in the affair, was taking place and a grand fete organised for their last days in France had to be cancelled due to the public indignation against her.  It's difficult to assess her feelings for her brother due to this complication of events, but his visit did not appear to give her much consolation.  The visit of her eldest brother Joseph in 1777 however put her in the position where eventually the Emperor said that she had become his favorite sister - possibly because she seemed grateful for his efforts to sort out her marriage and genuinely to help her, though he certainly scolded her severely at the same time for her perceived faults, and was keen to promote Austrian interests via her influence over Louis.  Marie Antoinette also seemed rather naively to perceive Leopold as an elder brother with her best interests at heart, although from his correspondence it seems he was rather more concerned with positioning Austria against France than he was in promoting fraternal affection.  So it looks from what evidence there is available, that probably Joseph was her favorite brother.

[prinzheinelgirl]

I agree with your assessment, CountessKate.

Archduke Ferdinand, based on evidence, became much closer to their older sister Maria Amalia once he moved to Italy. I think I've read that Archduke Ferdinand corresponded with Marie Antoinette - but most likely via Vienna when Empress Maria Theresa was still alive -- but it seems that except for the visit at Versailles in 1786, they did not have a lot of interaction. Leopold was never close to Marie Antoinette and it seems that the two siblings did not (directly) correspond on a regular basis once in their new homes. Marie Antoinette was only 9 years old when Leopold moved to Tuscany, a factor that may have affected their future relations. I think it was a huge mistake on her part not to cultivate better relations with him -- after all, Leopold was the next ruler after Joseph II.  Leopold's views on  Marie Antoinette's predicament later on and whatever fraternal affection he may have had (not much, it seems) can be summed up by what he said: "I have a sister in France but France is not my sister." I don't think it was due to Leopold's "coldness" (as their mother claimed) as Leopold was very warm and nice to both Archduchesses Maria Elisabeth and Maria Amalia.  

[miki_nastya]

              What songs does remind you of Marie Antoinette? I was hearing today the song A mother's pray, by Celine Dion and it remind me of her and her daughter Marie Therese...I don't know why but in my opinion the words fits perfectly....