Marie Antoinette's

Aubry was born in 1745 at Versailles.  A member of the Royal Academy, he developed his talents as a genre painter.  By age 25 he was established at court painting domestic scenes and portraits.  The artist did not live to see the revolution, dying at the age of 36.

The work features a father and mother who have come to pick up their baby from the wet nurse whom he was assigned to.  Typical practice, the child was left to stay with the nurse and her family for the first few months of infancy.  This moment depicts the struggle the little one felt while being pulled from one mother and handed to an unknown mother.


Rousseau had previously published his work Emile, or On Education which was not well received in France (at first).  In the first book of this work, he strongly advocated that it was a mother's first duty to nurse her own babies, rather than hire a wet nurse.

Aubry seems to play with this idea. The reaction of the infant is apparent, distress evident in his facial expression, eyes and body language, when he his handed to his mother, that he does not even look up at her; his eyes are locked on the wet nurse's face.  So strong is the emotion of all figures in the composition, that without the title of the work, one may suspect a child is being taken from its family rather than returning to it.

Something looks familiar here...
Do you Anne of Austria is wearing the same dress seen on Marie de Medici (left)?  Who pulls it off better?  I still love the color and details of this gown.  (plus I am on a pearl kick lately so it really appeals to me!) You can rate Anne's (Marie's?) dress at The Dreamstress blog


(left) Frans Pourbus the Younger, Marie de' Medici, Queen of France (1573-1642). 1610, oil on canvas.  Intended for Petite Galerie of the Palais du Louvre. Musée du Louvre.


(right)  Peter Paul Rubens, Anne d'Autriche. 1577-1640, Oil on canvas. Norton Simon Museum.

I will be out of town and more importantly away from my trusted computer for the rest of the week!  I am sure I will miss a lot of the happenings in blog land so, bear with!  I will do my best to keep up to date on ye olde Twitter, so you can always reach me there!

So a few things before I head out:
Last week we had a poll "Why do you love 18th century France?" and the results are in!

The art	37 (39%)
The fashion	68 (73%)
The political scene	20 (21%)
The music	30 (32%)
The theatre	21 (22%)
The royal court	43 (46%)
The architecture	39 (41%)
The scandals!	33 (35%)

Clearly we are a very fashionable crowd with extensive knowledge of the historical royal court and its colorful inhabitants with an appreciation for architecture and art!

I started to read The Scarlet Pimpernel avec Heather, and I just love it. In fact, it has been the source of my lack of sleep lately! I stay up and say 'just one more chapter' and then of course regret my foolish choice the next morning- but when a book is that good, how can you complain! If anyone else wants to read along I suggest it! We can all discuss SP & the characters within!

Ok, off to bed! *tosses book across the room*

It is no real secret that I am slightly obsessed with cooking, yet I do not ever cook. Not enough.  Heather and I were recently discussing the film Julie and Julia based on the true story of the Julie/Julia Project.  The idea of cooking so many recipes in such a short time is baffling to our 21st century minds, but there is some allure to it too! So that brings me to the topic of historical recipes!

I had some luck making historical gingerbread-ish cookies, which I found in an old 18th cent. cookery book.  They were really like molasses crunchy cookies that were best with whip cream.  Have any of you had luck dabbling in historical cookery? I would love to hear what recipes you have tried and loved, or had to change?


Recently From Common Hands Studio, which specializes in historic book binding, has offered for sale François Massialot's Cuisinier royal et bourgeois.  The copy offered is the 1702 edition, an English edition.  According to 18thc Cuisine:

"Massialot's book was reissued and updated often in French during the 18thC, but only once in English. The book is full of savories and sweets, liqueurs and confitures, instructions for table settings and menues for fat days and lean (fasting meals according to the church's calendar). Reenactors, living historians, museums and lovers of food and great books will find a remarkable treat in this lovely volume. Paul's work is magnificent--you won't be disappointed!"

To order a handmade copy of this 18th century cookbook, email Paul at fromcommonhands@yahoo.com (information on the website!)

I really want to get my hands on a copy of this and see what I can do! Would love to make a wonderful dessert for Heathers birthday but we will see about that... Anyway, I promise to update with any historical cookery I get myself into and I hope you share your stories too, pictures appreciated!

 If you have seen the modern interpretatios of Marie Antoinette and Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire's lives on teh big screen, you may have noticed the amazing difference between the weddings each of the women had. 

Which did you perfer? Georgiana's ceremony? Private, glowing, formal ...cozy?



 Or perhaps you like Marie Antoinette's ceremony better? Lavish, sparkling, formal luxe?



What do you think?