04 works, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, Today October 16th Is The Anniversary of The Execution of Marie Antoinette, with Footnotes #230

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun  (1755–1842)

Marie Antoinette and her Children, c. 1787

Oil on canvas

height: 275 cm (108.2 in); width: 215 cm (84.6 in)

Palace of Versailles

Depicted: Marie Antoinette, Louis XVII of France, Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

and Marie-Thérèse Duchess of Angoulême

Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (Marie Élisabeth Louise; 16 April 1755 – 30 March 1842), also known as Madame Lebrun, was a prominent French painter.

Her artistic style is generally considered part of the aftermath of Rococo, while she often adopts a neoclassical style. Vigée Le Brun cannot be considered a pure Neoclassicist, however, in that she creates mostly portraits in Neoclassical dress rather than the History painting. While serving as the portrait painter to Marie Antoinette, Vigée Le Brun works purely in Rococo in both her color and style choices.

Vigée Le Brun left a legacy of 660 portraits and 200 landscapes. In addition to private collections, her works may be found at major museums, such as the Hermitage Museum, London's National Gallery, and museums in continental Europe and the United States. More on Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

It's the 18th century at the Court of Versailles, the residence of the last queen of France, Marie Antoinette, a figure who is still controversial today. Born 1755 in Vienna, at the tender age of 14 Marie Antoinette marries heir to the French throne Louis-Auguste, who later became King Louis XVI of France. The jovial Marie soon falls into disfavor at the court. Demonstrating little interest in the ceremonial conventions of courtly life, she occupies her time with balls, fashion matters and imaginative hairstyles. Her decadent lifestyle also quickly draws the attention and displeasure of the French people. Upon hearing of the people's uprisings, of their hunger and poverty, she is said to have uttered a sentence that has gone down in history: "The people have no bread? Then let them eat cake."

Alfred W. Elmore (British, 1815–1881)

Asalto al Palacio de las Tullerías , 1860

Watercolor

77 x 91 cm. (30.3 x 35.8 in.)

Private collection

Alfred W. Elmore is best known for his much-celebrated work The Emperor Charles V at the Convent of St Yuste (1856, Royal Holloway, University of London). Recognised from an early stage in his career as a promising artist, the Art Journal pronounced that: 'Mr. Elmore, we understand, is young; if he progresses as he has commenced, we shall ere long add another name to our limited list of great English masters' (Art Journal, 1839, p. 8). Travelling extensively in Europe, Elmore studied the pictures and antiquities in Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, Munich and Dresden. He exhibited extensively at the Royal Academy, so much so that a later Art Journal critic commented that 'such an instance of good fortune...is, we imagine without a parallel in the history of the Academy...Mr. Elmore is an artist who follows no beaten track; he thinks for himself and works out his ideas in a spirit of independence, affording as great pleasure in the novelty of the subjects he places before us, as by the skilful and effective manner in which they are treated' (Art Journal, 1857, p. 115). More on Alfred W. Elmore

It is only in 1789 at the beginning of the French Revolution that Marie Antoinette becomes politically active, above all to preserve the throne for her children. As the situation worsens, the royal family attempt to flee abroad. But the people catch up with the coach in Varennes. Marie Antoinette is taken back to Paris with her family and placed under heavy guard.

Thomas Falcon Marshall (1818-1878)

The arrest of Louis XVI and his family at the house of the registrar of passports, at Varennes in June, 1791, c. 1854

Oil on canvas

height: 105 cm (41.3 in); width: 142.5 cm (56.1 in)

Private collection

Painted around 60 years after the revolution, in 1854. We notice the glaring light through the window, and the use of jarring, dark colors give the painting a threatening feel. The facial expressions are telling; the family members look fearful and fatigued. There is a crowd encroaching and we can just about note the outskirts of the town which was on high alert to the presence of the royals. The scene is presented in the format of a tragicomedy in the book. More on this painting

Thomas Falcon Marshall (1818–1878) was an English artist, known as a painter in oils and watercolour. He painted both portraits and landscapes, and also history paintings. 

Marshall was born in Liverpool, in December 1818, and he worked mainly there and in Manchester. In the Liverpool Academy Exhibition of 1836 he showed four pictures. In 1840 he was awarded a silver medal by the Society of Arts for an oil-painting of a figure subject, and he exhibited for the first of many times at the Royal Academy in 1839. Around 1847 he moved to London.

Marshall died in Kensington on 26 March 1878. More on Thomas Falcon Marshall

Marie still manages however to write letters and smuggle them out, appealing to Europe's rulers to crush the revolution by force. The King's apathy leads her to take charge of all the negotiations. But her lack of both experience and accurate information make it impossible for Marie Antoinette to maintain a clear course.

All her efforts to save her family and the crown fail. The revolution can no longer be stopped. In 1793, following a show trial, Louis XVI is executed. In October of the same year Marie Antoinette is brought before the court. After a 15-hour marathon trial, she is unanimously declared guilty on all counts. The sentence was already clear before the trial began, the death sentence. Marie Antoinette walks to the guillotine composed and with pronounced royal dignity. On October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed in Paris at the Place de la Révolution, known today as the Place de la Concorde. More on Marie-Antoinette

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