Chapter 20 / Marie Antoinette and Her Children

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun / 1787

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun was a leading artist in the 18th century. In 1783 she was elected to the Grench Academy. This was a portrait done to show the royal's emotions regarding the French Revolution. The figures in the portrait all have extremely calm expressions on their faces. They are holed up in a room in the palace, totally unaware of the uprising that was beginning outside. This uprising would be the start of the French Revolution. The uprising started during the reign of King Louis XVI. His negligence and ineffectiveness caused french nobility as well as the catholic church to be exempt form tax payment, which caused an uprising from those who were still held to regular tax payments. On July 14th, there was a storming of the Bastille prison, which is why France now celebrates Bastille Day. This, along with so many other riots and revolts, rattled the common folk, and this painting shows that the nobility was oblivious (at least at this point in time) to what was about to happen.

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun personally experienced the French Revolution, so this painting is a sort of jab at the fact that the royals were totally oblivious and didn't really make an effort to help their suffering citizens. All figures in the painting seem pretty happy, like everything in the world is totally fine. This creates an interesting dichotomy, since the outside world was definitely not happy. The rich textures and colors in the paintings, along with the lavish clothes and headwear show Marie Antoinette's high status and wealth. Here, she is shown as both a royal and a mother. The child on the left side of the painting looks up the her admirable, as the youngest child rests on her lap. The boy on the right side of the painting reveals an empty crib to the views of the painting. This is a metaphor for the death of one of Marie Antoinette's children.