Marie Antoinette of Habsburg Lorraine, born on November 2, 1755, continues to fascinate centuries after her death. Recently, one of her shoes sold for 43,000 euros at auction. She wore size 36. One of her pendants sold for $32 million. It must be said that, beyond the disputed and questionable queen, Marie Antoinette embodies to the point of excess the art of living at a time when France is at the height of its influence in the world. The deposed sovereign was also the source of France's worldwide reputation for fashion and luxury, setting trends and demanding the most beautiful.
Modern, she continues to fascinate.
She also fascinates by her modernity. She appreciates simplicity and intimacy while etiquette rules her life. Her supreme value is friendship, which makes her do stupid things because not all friends are disinterested. She is also very maternal at a time when she is very little so. Finally, she was passionate about nature, which can be seen in the gardens of Trianon and of the hamlet at Versailles, which we owe her and where nature is celebrated. Hated during her lifetime, including by the court of Versailles, moving by her tragic end, still fashionable even centuries after her death, Marie Antoinette last queen of France that is also our history.
Marie Antoinette and her children, by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. We can distinguish the future "Madame Royale" Marie Thérèse (the Queen's eldest daughter), the first dauphin (who died in 1789 of tuberculosis), the young Duke of Normandy (who became the dauphin and died in the prison of the temple at the age of 12). The empty cradle indicates the absence of "Madame Sophie", the last child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, who died as a child and very recently when the painting was done by the Queen's official painter.
