Tea at Trianon: Allegory of the Death of Louis the Dauphin, Son of Louis XV

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Allegory of the Death of Louis the Dauphin, Son of Louis XV

From Tiny-Librarian:

This painting depicts the death of Louis, Dauphin of France, who died of consumption on this day, December 20th, in 1765. He was the eldest and only surviving son of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska.

Louis was married twice. His first wife, Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, died shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Marie Therese, who only lived for two years.

He and his second wife, Maria Josepha of Saxony, were the parents to many children, though only five would survive to adulthood. They had three sons who were kings of France: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X. One daughter, Marie Clotilde, became Queen of Sardinia. Another daughter, Madame Elisabeth, never married and remained in France with her family, and was ultimately guillotined during the French Revolution. (Read more.)

There are four boys in the painting. I am guessing that, left to right, they are Provence (Louis XVIII); Berry (Louis XVI), who is clutching his father's legs in an effort to keep him from leaving; Burgogne, who is dead and ready to lead his father to the heavenly kingdom; Artois (Charles X), who is looking to his mother for comfort. It is allegorical painting, but it genuinely captures the grief of the family of the Dauphin and Dauphine. Share