L'Art en Question 4 Vigée-Lebrun; Marie-Antoinette et ses enfants (Versailles)

Art...
ArtSleuth
A child
another,
and a third
with their mother in the centre.
A painting by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.
Just another saccharine hymn to family values?
But it isn’t all sweetness and light:
this may be a palace, but it’s empty and cold
a sombre curtain shrouds the cradle
there are shadows creeping in…
This woman is Marie-Antoinette, last queen of France.
She has seven years to live:
When the Revolution triumphs, she will die on the guillotine…
She knows already that the people hate her.
This picture is a last attempt at image-building.
An attempt which fails!
But how about the picture - is it a failure too?
Is it mere propaganda - or is it something more?
Episode 4: Vigee Lebrun
Marie-Antoinette and her children - From PR exercise to guillotine?
Part 1: Painting as PR
Let there be no mistake,
this glossy picture is a PR exercise.
Its aim - to make people forget three damaging visions of the Queen u
nwittingly projected in earlier portraits.
Mark I: Frivolous fashion-freak.
The bold, actressy pose,
with stage curtain and smoke as background,
the knick-knacks, the frills,
the outlandish wigs...
all gone!
With a pedestal-type cushion at her feet,
Seated on an armchair in austere surroundings,
and a classical column
in the background,
the Queen again becomes a figure of authority.
Mark II: Wayward shepherdess..
Tired of her royal duties,
Marie-Antoinette turns her back on the palace
and escapes to her toy-like village at the Trianon. .
“Straw hat and plain English muslin
- perfect for a pleasant stroll.
And just what all my friends are wearimg!”
But a queen who shows herself like this in public is insulting the people
- and France!
So - back to the splendours of Versailles
and Louis XIV’s Hall of Mirrors.
Crown,
fleur de lys
- this is indeed a queen of France.
Back to the regulation red-velvet dress.
The colour of power
and a discreet nod
to her simple, pious predecessor.
Mark III: Queen of diamonds.
She loves jewellery, and everyone knows it.
Indeed, one schemer has already used her name
to mount a massive scam
- the “Queen’s Necklace Affair”. .
The Queen’s innocence is proved, but the mud sticks all the same.
So, austerity’s the word
- no necklace, no diamonds.
A clever move.
The portrait goes on show in Paris.
But it’s too late:
the people no longer trust the monarchy.
The state is backing the Americans in their fight for independence,
Deeply in debt,
it is staring ruin in the face.
Millions, who have lent it their money, fear the worst.
Known for her extravagance, the Queen makes an easy scapegoat:
“Madame Deficit”, “the Austrian woman”, is accused of deliberately seeking to ruin France.
To win back the people’s favour, she tries a new approach
-and plays her role as mother to the hilt.
Part 2: The might of motherhood
A queen as mother
- nothing new, surely!
After all, giving French kings an heir is what French queens are there for.
Her predecessor as queen, is a mere biological bridge between:
her husband, the present king,
and her son, the future one.
And her mother embodies the same tradition at the Austrian court,
as she proudly displays the little princes,
who are actually shown as miniature adults in their own right.
But there’s something new here:
for one thing, the triangular composition ...
… comes from Italian Renaissance paintings of the Holy Family:
the sacred is back.
There’s something else too, something more modern:
a real bond of affection between mother and children ...
... who are dressed to suit their needs - not a wig or sword in sight.
The guiding light here is the philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
who urges mothers to abandon their loose-living ways
- and play a worthy role in society
by raising their children to be enlightened citizens.
The reference point here is Cornelia, the virtuous Roman matron,
who scorned jewellery,
and declared that her children were her greatest treasure.
Which helps to explain why this jewel cabinet
stays firmly in the shadows,
while the children are presented to the nation.
Embodying both sacred and civic ideals of motherhood,
the Queen scores twice over!
But maternal feeling has its modish side too:
many ladies of fashion are happy enough to be painted with their children ...
... but leave all the rest to nurses.
The public suspect that Marie-Antoinette is one of them,
and focus instead on one melancholy detail:
the empty cradle!
... intended for the little Princess Sophie,
who died before the picture was finished.
Will viewers feel for her mother?
No: the expression doesn’t fit
- she looks unconcerned,
and seems to have her mind on something else.
In short, she is a bad mother.
An argument taken up seven years later by the judges in the revolutionary tribunal,
who even accuse her of incest.
So the Queen’s plan collapses: the picture will not save her.
But what about saving the picture?
Part 3: Prosperity - and posterity
Of course, the artist Vigée-Lebrun is working to a royal commission,
and has to play down the very thing
that has made her fame and fortune
the all-new package she offers her sitters.
Not content to retouch their physical flaws,
she even arranges their costumes and hairstyles herself.
conventional dress codes are out,
and an easy elegance lets natural beauty shine through.
Above all, she encourages them to reveal their private selves
- to smile,
behave naturally,
and let their softer side show through.
And so the picture will live for other reasons
- reasons which apply in the 19th century
Long gone the haughty monarchs of the past -
today’s royal portraits must please the conventional, well-to-do burghers
and reflect their moral values
The good mother comes to symbolise political rectitude.
Queen Victoria, the century’s most powerful woman, is a typical example.
The French, too, choose a nursing mother
- Marianne - to symbolise the Republic
And, less than a century after they were painted, Vigée-Lebrun’s versions of Marie-Antoinette
no longer seem at odds with one another.
The Queen is remembered, not only as mother, but also for her special creation
- the high life, Trianon-style, blending the refined and bucolic.
In her day, easy-living luxury was seen as a sign of depravity
- and as such incompatible with motherhood.
In the 19th century, however, it became part of the duty her successors owed their country’s economy:
the Empress Eugénie, for example - an exemplary mother, seen here with her ladies-in-waiting
- helped to boost French fashion sales world-wide.
And so this portrait marks the start of a new era,
when public opinion can no longer be ignored
by royals - or their painters.
Next episode: Rembrandt - The Return of the Prodigal Son
Force of the Dark Side
Find more information on: www.canal-educatif.fr
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Written by
This film exists thanks to
sponsors and volunteers
and to the support of the Palace of Versailles
Voicover
Editing and motion graphics
Extra editing & sound recording
Musical selection
Musics
Photographic credits
Special thanks
English subtitles: Vincent Nash
A CED production