Bad Influences?

"...I found, as I so often do, that whatever is blameworthy in the Dauphine's conduct is due to the promptings of her aunts."

A letter by the Comte de Mercy to Maria Theresa

Mother Knows Best: Peer Pressure

“Too much compliance is degrading; you must play your own part, if you wish to be valued. If you do not, I foresee great trouble before you; nothing but mischief-making and plots, which will make your life unhappy. Believe the advice of a mother, who knows the world and idolizes her children, and desires only to pass her sad days in being useful to them.”

Maria Theresa, 13 October 1777

More of Mother Knows Best

Dairy Queens, Bastards, Jest and more Books to check out

Gerber, Matthew. 2012. Bastards: Politics, Family, and Law in Early Modern France. New York: Oxford University Press.

My reading list is getting bigger again (every now and then I go a little crazy and book browsing turns into heavy duty book shopping!...I am not alone right?)

So I thought I would share some of the works I am most excited about with you!

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Constance C. McPhee, and Nadine Orenstein. 2011. Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine . New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Desan, Suzanne, and Jeffrey Merrick. 2009.Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press.

McMurran, Mary Helen. 2010. The Spread of Novels: Translation and Prose Fiction in the Eighteenth Century (Translation/Transnation). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Williams, Carolyn D., Angela Escott, and Louise Duckling. 2010. Woman to Woman: Female Negotiations During the Long Eighteenth Century. Newark: University of Delaware Press.

Martin, Meredith. 2011. Dairy Queens: The Politics of Pastoral Architecture from Catherine de' Medici to Marie-Antoinette . Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

And finally, I want to suggest Jane Austen Made me Do it. This book is edited by our very own Laurel Ann Nattress and is full of short stories all inspired by Jane Austen's characters.  It is a fun and easy read, and I digested a story each night before bed. So put it on your must-read-for-fun list if you also can't  get enough of Ms. Austen!

Nattress, Laurel Ann. 2011. Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original Stories Inspired by Literature's Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart. New York: Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks.


One of my readers has suggested the following title:

The Journal of Madam Knight:
A diary kept in 1704 by Sarah Kemble Knight on her hazardous round-trip journey from Boston to New York. Filled with witty comments on the manner of the people Madam Knight encountered, the lack of suitable accommodations, and the geography of early New England.
Sounds great!

For more book suggestions check out my Eighteenth Century Book List.
Happy reading!!

Exhibition: The 18th Century City / 18th Century Google Maps!

The latest exhibition at the Grand Palais is called France in Relief, Masterpieces from the collection of relief maps of Louis XIV to Napoleon III. The show features amazing scaled-down maps of some primary European cities made of wood, paper, metal and silk.  In a way, they are like the 18th century version of Google Maps.

The 3D maps were created for military purposes at the time, to aid in the preparation of war.  During the 18th century they went on display to reinforce the power France held. But today they serve to teach us about the development of borders, town planning, map-making, historical towns (that have since been destroyed and rebuilt) and even siege warfare.

The maps are so well made and realistic you can picture the 18th century cities just as they were; the detail in the architecture of buildings and layout of each city gives us a fresh perspective on historical urban life.  To create the maps, surveyors and engineers were sent out across the country to measure and record the details of assigned towns. There are 16 maps on view, all from the collection of the Grand Palais. The cities include:

Fort Barraux (Isère), 
Montmélian (Savoy), 
Exilles (Italy)
Fenestrelle (Italy)
Embrun (Hautes-Alpes)
Grenoble (Isère)
Briançon (Hautes-Alpes)
Mont-Dauphin (Hautes-Alpes) 
Besançon (Doubs)
Neuf-Brisach (Haut-Rhin)
Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin)
Luxembourg
Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands)
Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)
Cherbourg (Manche) 
Brest (Finistère)

Check out this video on the exhibition, you will be amazed at the size and detail in each map!

If you can make it to this show, it is on view until February 17, 20
 Video via Liberation Next


Would love to hear your thoughts if you see it!

Check out the exhibition website!

Nef du Grand Palais

Entrée principale

Avenue Winston-Churchill - 75008 Paris

Hours:Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Wenesday, Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Closed Tuesday

Admission:

5 €, concessions 2,50 €

Chantilly: Selections from the Collection

 

The foggy history of the Château de Chantilly only clears up after the 10th century AD, where it passed through a succession of owners, including the Grand Constable of Montmorency, whom added to the estate by purchasing lands around it. Louis XIII took particular interest in the estate, spending much time there and it was only until 1643 when Queen Anne of Austria gave the estate back to the Marguerite de Montmorency and her husband the Prince of Condé.

Chambre of the duchesse, Chantilly, via.

The estate underwent major improvements prompted by a race to keep up with Louis XIV's building projects at Versailles, and later during the French Revolution the historical and valuable contents of the ages old chateau were removed  (the library was confiscated) and other items were sold in a large auction in 1793.

Gallery of Paintings, Chantilly, via.

While exiled, the then current Prince of Condé purchased art, books, and furniture.  Eighteen years later the Prince of Condé returned to France and attempted to have the items that were removed returned. He was somewhat successful in securing some of the original art and items that filled the house, but he had to supplement them with the collections he had been building on his own.

Princes Chambers, Chantilly, via.

Because of his diligence in collecting and gifts during this period, the Museum Condé at Chantilly boasts over 1000 paintings, 2500 drawings, 2500 engravings and 1500 manuscripts, not to mention the large and important library.  The collection includes sculpture and decorative arts, and is housed in the castle's galleries and rooms.

Pol de Limbourg and finished by Jean Colombe, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Très Riches Heures), folio 7 v.; July: Castle Poitiers, which the Duke rebuilt; sheep-shearing and harvesting. illuminated manuscript, 1409-1479. Musée Condé.

Botticelli, Autumn. Musée Condé.

Raphael, Three Graces. Oil on panel, 1502-1503. Musée Condé.

Jean Fouquet, Hours of Étienne Chevalier; Adoration of the Magi. Manuscript illumination, 1445. Musée Condé.

Piero di Cosimo, Portrait of a Woman, perhas Simonetta Vespucci. Distemper on wood, 1480. Musée Condé.

Jean Decourt, Henri III before his accession, or his younger brother the Duke d'Alençon. Painting on wood, 16th century. Musée Condé.

For another gorgeous image of the inside of Château de Chantilly, check out Abby's photo of the week, at Nooks, Towers and Turrets!

Marie Antoinette Quilt

via Kitty Me Designs

Reader @altheapreston was kind enough to point out Pamela Kellogg's designs for a Marie Antoinette themed quilt, or as she names them 'Crazy Quilts'.  Her Marie Antoinette quilt burst with colors, sparkles and vintage themed imagery.  What is awesome, is that each individual square of the quilt is unique, with it's own embellishments, portrait and style. Together, the crazy aspect may appear, for a quilt lined in satin bursting with sparkle and charm!

The size of the piece is appropriate, this isn't a throw quilt! and I like how she has displayed it on the wall as art. You can check out Pamela's other designs on her Etsy page, or get inspired and make your own Marie Antoinette themed items at home!