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Versailles Gossip- Empire Style Portrait (the Portrait of Madam Senonnes)
- A Cat Chasing a Butterfly
- The Emperor’s Barge
- Marie-Antoinette (a text of Jean Cocteau translated by Vadim Bystritski)
- Indifferent (a text of Paul Claudel translated by Vadim Bystritski)
- Napoleon II and the Cinco de Mayo
- Le Gros’ Portrait of Napoleon’s Aid-de-Camp
- Style Empire in Painting
- Falling in Style
- A Swede in the XVIII Century Paris.
Category Archives: Louis XV
I Found This Photo in One of My Files.
What a sad little piece of porcelain when you think of it: “1715. Long live the king!” I wonder what Louis XV could remember from that day? “Your Majesty!” He was a lonely kid, always surrounded by adults, malleable and … Continue reading
Posted in Louis XV
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A Picture for the Frame
If Van Loo is the court painter of Louis XV, then Boucher is the court painter of Pompadour. Only he is not a court painter, for there is not a single Boucher portrait at Versailles. This is why we recognize … Continue reading
Posted in Court, Courtiers, Louis XV, Louvre, Madame Pompadour, Versailles
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A Horse, a H….
This equestrian statue of Louis XV used to decorate la Place Louis XV — what today is known as la Place de la Concorde. The statue fell one of the first victims of the French Revolution. The small replica I … Continue reading
Posted in Chateau Versailles, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louvre
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Antinous of Versailles
There is an Antinous for every part of the Mediterranean world, and so there is one at Versailles. In Egypt he was represented as Osiris, in Greece as Aresteus, in Rome as Vertumnus, in the chestnut grove of Versailles as… … Continue reading
Posted in Gardens and Park, Louis XV, Versailles, Winckelmann
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The Court of Perfume
The Perfumed Court, that’s how they nick-named Versailles in the XVIII century: Louis XV insisted that perfumes be changed every day, while some of the fountains gave off the monarch’s preferred aroma; there were different perfumes for different occasions and for different … Continue reading
The Pink Ballets
This sex scandal made all the headlines in 1960: the President of the French National Assembly, André le Troquer, was caught using property of the French Republic for his libertine parties. The parties became nick-named as ballets because they involved … Continue reading
Posted in Gardens and Park, Libertines, Louis XV, Versailles
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The Virtues of Sin
If we were to come up with any kind of a profession for Louis XV, it would probably be an agronomer — all his life the king was so heavily involved with the life sciences, especially botany. We should remember … Continue reading
Posted in Louis XV, Versailles
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Christmas and Versailles
There exists a painting showing the little Marie-Antoinette with her family on Christmas morning — the future Queen of France hops around the room with a big doll she had received as present. Unfortunately, Saint-Nicolas would not travel as far as … Continue reading
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