PORTRAYING THE QUEEN: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE REPRESENTATIONS OF MARIE-ANTOINETTE IN LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE By AMANDA KRISTINE STRASIK A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 Amanda Kristine Strasik 2 To my parents: Ronald and Cecilia Strasik 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe my deepest expressions of gratitude to my committee chair, Dr. Melissa Hyde, for her keen insights and encouragement that helped to shape my research. I am humbled, forever, appreciative, and genuinely grateful for her endless dedication as my mentor. To my other committee members, Dr. Eric Segal and Dr. Sheryl Kroen, I thank you for your astute comments that motivated me to become a more critical thinker. To my friends, family, and especially my parents, Ronald and Cecilia Strasik, I thank you for your unconditional love and support. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. 6 ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 11 2 AESTHETICS AND POLITICS OF QUEENSHIP ................................................................. 21 Public Functions of Royal Portraiture........................................................................................ 21 “L’état, c’est moi:” Representing the King’s Majesty ...................................................... 21 The “Nature” of Salic Law and the Objectified Body of the Queen ................................ 26 The Ambiguity of Public-Private Court Life at Versailles ....................................................... 31 “Private” Royal Portraiture ................................................................................................. 38 Early Representations of Marie-Antoinette ....................................................................... 43 3 MARIE-ANTOINETTE AND THE INFLUENCES OF ROUSSEAU .................................. 48 The Critique of Court Culture .................................................................................................... 51 Separate Spheres at Versailles .................................................................................................... 55 Publically Presenting the Private Queen .................................................................................... 59 4 CRITICAL RECEPTION OF PORTRAITS OF MARIE-ANTOINETTE ............................ 72 Queen of “Little Vienna” ............................................................................................................ 73 “Royalty Should Always be Royal”........................................................................................... 76 5 BE THE MOTHER OF US ALL ............................................................................................... 81 The “Bourgeois” Queen of France ............................................................................................. 81 Fashioning the “Good (Queen) Mother” ................................................................................... 89 LIST OF REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 97 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ........................................................................................................... 102 5 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, King of France, in Royal Costume. 1701, 2.77 x 1.94 m, oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg> 2. Carle Vanloo, Louis XV (1710-1774), King of France and Navarre. 1747, 2.71 x 1.93 m, oil on canvas. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 < http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lodewijk_XV-Harnas.jpg> 3. Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait de Louis XV Le Bien-Aimé (1710-1774) en armure. 1750, 60 x 54 cm, pastel drawing. Musèe du Louvre: Département des Arts Graphiques, Paris. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_XV_;Carle_van_Loo.jpg> 4. Carle Vanloo, Marie Leszczinska (1703-1768), reine de France, en grande Robe de Cour. 1747, 2.74 x 1.93 m, oil on canvas. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Leszczynska2.jpg> 5. Alexis Simon Belle, Marie Leszczinska and her Son. 1730, 1.70 x 1.39 m, oil on canvas. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Leszczynska2.jpg> 6. Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, Drawing of the Birth of Madame Royale at Versailles. 1778. Bibliothéque nationale de France, département des Estampes et de la photographie, Paris. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Antoinette_Adult1.jpg> 7. Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Marie-Joséphe de Saxe et le duc de Bourgogne. 1761, 1.60 x 1.14 m, pastel drawing. Musée Antoine Lécuyer, Saint-Quentin. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=42&FP=4899281&E=2 K1KTS2A26Q3D&SID=2K1KTS2A26Q3D&New=T&Pic=29&SubE=2C6NU0SO 8JA7> 8. Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait de Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, dauphine. 1761, 64 x 52 cm, pastel drawing. Musèe du Louvre: Département des Arts Graphiques, Paris. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=42&FP=4899281&E=2 K1KTS2A26Q3D&SID=2K1KTS2A26Q3D&New=T&Pic=37&SubE=2C6NU0H WFL2P> 6 9. Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait de Louis de France, dauphin (1729-1765), fils de Louis XV. 1761, 64 x 52 cm, pastel drawing. Musèe du Louvre: Département des Arts Graphiques, Paris. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=128&FP=4899327&E= 2K1KTS2A26Y14&SID=2K1KTS2A26Y14&New=T&Pic=66&SubE=2C6NU0NI Z8J4> 10. Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait de Marie Leszczinska, reine de France. 1747, 64 x 54 cm, pastel drawing. Musèe du Louvre: Département des Arts Graphiques, Paris. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MariaLeszczynska04.jpg> 11. Jean-Marc Nattier, Portrait de Marie Leszczinska. 1748, 1.465 x 1.137 m, oil on canvas. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-Marc_Nattier_001.jpg> 12. Joseph Krantzinger, Portrait de Marie-Antoinette en amazone. 1771, 2.73 x 1.93 m, pastel. Schönbrunn, Vienna. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Antoinette_Young4.jpg> 13. Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun, Archduchess Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. 1778, oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Antoinette_Adult.jpg> 14. Hubert Robert, View of the Gardens at Versailles, at the Time of the Clearing of the Trees, Winter 1774-1775, Entrance to the Tapis-Vert. 1774, 1.24 x 1.91 m, oil on canvas, Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=221&FP=4900678&E= 2K1KTS2A26FOU&SID=2K1KTS2A26FOU&New=T&Pic=42&SubE=2C6NU0H 69CQ6> 15. Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty, Portrait of Marie-Antoinette at the Temple of Love. 1783, 41 x 33 cm, oil on canvas. Private Collection. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Antoinette_Adult3.jpg> 16. Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun, Portrait of Marie-Antoinette en chemise. 1783, 93 x 73 cm, oil on canvas. Private Collection. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Antoinette_rose.jpg> 17. Carle Vanloo, Marie Leszczinska, reine de France. 1747, 44 x 33 cm, oil on paperboard, Musèe du Louvre, Paris. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=53&FP=4904296&E=2 K1KTS2A2MSK9&SID=2K1KTS2A2MSK9&New=T&Pic=15&SubE=2C6NU0N RGHUD> 7 18. Eugène Battaille, after Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, Marie-Antoinette, Madame Royale, and the Dauphin in the Garden at the Petit Trianon . 1785 (1868 reproduction), 2.75 x 1.88 m, oil on canvas. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Antoinette_Adult8.jpg> 19. Charles and Henri Beaubrun, Maria Theresa, Wife of Louis XIV, with Louis the Grand Dauphin. 1661, oil on canvas. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Theresa_Wife_of_Louis_XIV,_wit h_Her_Son_the_Dauphin_Louis_of_France,_Pierre_Mignard_(1661).jpg> 20. Pierre Mignard, La Famille de Louis de France fils de Louis XIV, dit le "Grand Dauphin.” 1687, 2.32 x 3.04 m, oil on canvas, Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Dauphin_Family.jpg> 21. Pierre Mignard, Madame Montespan and her Children. 2.4 x 2.52 m, oil on canvas. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles. Accessed 7 March 2010 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marquise_de_Montespan_and_children.jp g> 22. Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun, Portrait of Marie-Antoinette à la rose. 1783-1784, 1.13 x 0.87 m, oil on canvas. Châteaux de