Video of the month: Versailles The Dream of a King

Check out this lovely documentary which has been put on youtube. It shows the history of Versailles combinated with the life story of Louis XIV! Very interesting.

The Marquise de Sade: Wife of a Madman

Marquis de Sade (2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814)

We are all rather familiar with the scandalous Marquis de Sade. The bad boy was quite the scandal in both the 18th century and his work still makes people uncomfortable nowadays. He was not quite fond of morals and neither religion, which would explain his extreme sexual behavior. He poisoned prostitutes, abused them and made various notorious pornographic works when he was spending most of the time in the prisons of Paris, such as the Bastille and the Congiergerie. The latter is still open for visit in Paris and also has the cell in which Marie-Antoinette spend her last days.

But did you ever think of the fact that the Marquis de Sade actually was a married man, and had a family life? The Marquis de Sade was married to Renée-Pélagie de Montausier, who was the daughter of the président honoraria of the Cour des aides. Another marriage candidate was mademoiselle Laure de Lauris, with whom the Marquis de Sade would have been in love. However, the Montausier family seemed to be a better candidate. The marriage negotiations were done by the comte de Sade and the father of Renée-Pélagie de Montausier. The Montausier family belonged to the low nobility, but because of their wealth they were still a very interesting wedding party. According to the Comte de Sade she was a pretty girl, with pretty arms and hands, a charming character, and very white, which was very fashionable in the 18th century. Although the new Marquise de Sade tried to love the marquis, it must have been hard to do so, as the Marquis had several affairs. The one that must have hurt her the most was a affair with her younger sister of nineteen years, Anne-Prospère de Launey. Despite their scandalous affairs they lived for a while at their castle in Lacoste, where the Marquis was not being very nice with the servant girls. 

Marquis de sade later in his life (made in the 19th century)

 The question is whether the couple has ever been in love. It seems questionable the Marquise would have truly loved her husband who had quite the scandalous life. The Marquise was often kept away from the affairs though. However, was the Marquise really as innocent in all of this as she seems at first sight? The Marquise always remained good contact with her husband when he was imprisoned, he especially wrote many letters to his wife. She has always been there for him: when he requested her to come, she would come. She even tried to get him free by writing to the Minister of the Royal Household in 1772 and always defended his case. Also, in 1768 the Marquise de Sade attempted to bribe a girl, Rose Keller ( a French prostitute), with money in order to have her drop charges. Accroding to the Abbe de Sade 'the Marquise is no better than her husband.' However, in 1790 the attitude of the Marquise de Sade towards her husband changes, according to him it was the fault of her 'Father Conessor.' A 'divorce' for the couple is arranged.


Nonetheless the couple had a total of three children:
-  Louis Marie de Sade (27 August 1767 -  9 June 1809)
-  Donatien Claude Armand de Sade (27 June 1769 - 10 May 1847)
-  Madeline Laure de Sade (7 April 1771 - 18 Januray 1844) 

A Majestic Painting: Marie-Antoinette en robe de velours bleu

  In 1788 Marie-Antoinette en robe de velours bleu was painted by Madame Lebrun, whom also painted many other paintings of Marie-Antoinette and known figures at the court of Versailles. What really jumps out is here is the way Marie-Antoinette is displayed.

Marie-Antoinette was here displayed not so much as a Fashion Queen, as we can see in some of the previous pictures, but she is displayed as the Queen of France. When you look at the painting there is no doubt the woman portrayed in the painting is the Queen of France. Focus lays on symbols that  confirm Marie-Antoinette's royal background. Take for example the crown on the pillow with the fleur-de-lys (symbol for the House of Bourbon) pattern. This crown is not entirely suprising in the painting though, this is quite common in portraits of Queens of France, but it was lacking in some of the previous paintings. On the book Marie-Antoinette is holding in her hand and holding on her lap the arms of the House of Habsburg and the House of Bourbon can be seen. Marie-Antoinette's dress is a simple, blue gown with a fur trim.

Marie-Antoinette (1788)

It is said that Madame LeBrun, whom had access to the collection of paintings, used a painting of a younger Madame Adelaide and a painting of the previous Queen, Marie Leczinska, for inspiration to portray Marie-Antoinette as a more majestic figure.

Madame Adelaide (1766)

There is quite some alikeness with this portrait and the portrait of Marie-Antoinette. Take for example the fact that they are both sitting, both are having a book in their hands, and not to forget the fur trim they both have on their gowns. Who would have ever thought Adelaide and Antoinette had so much in common?

Marie Leczinska (1748)

In this portrait we see Queen Marie Leczinska portrayed as the Queen of France. Notice the royal symbols again, as the crown with the fleur de lys. More notorious is the pose she has. It is almost the as the one Marie-Antoinette has in her own painting.

The painting was made for propaganda purposes. If you look at the year the painting was made, in 1788, things were already heating up in France politically. It was thus a move to present Marie-Antoinette as the Queen of France surrounded by royal symbols, in a time where royal authority was questioned. Of course it was also a move to restore some of her image damage, because, as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace proved, Marie-Antoinette was seen as a frivolous, extravagant person. Is this why they chose to portray Marie-Antoinette in a simple blue dress? We must also not forget the disaster with the portrait in which Marie-Antoinette was displayed wearing a simple chemise, very little powder and  with a straw hat. This was breaking with protocol and tradition, which was what Marie-Antoinette already known for by those who despised her, which contributed to her image as rule-breaking Austrian. In this portrait Marie-Antoinette is portrayed according to protocol: royal symbols and a proper dress.

I personally think it is a nice portrait, but I prefer the other portraits as they seem to give a bit of a more 'natural' and 'real' impression of Marie-Antoinette.

Please tell me how you feel about this portrait!

P.s.
My first blog post :-)