Christmas at Vaux-le-Vicomte

 This week, The Earful Tower podcast (hosted Australian expat Oliver Gee), focuses on Christmas at the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte, home to a magnificent (and loosely period) festive extravaganza known as "Le Grand Noël". 

Royal College of Thiron-Gardais

A new French TV documentary,  aired on 18th December 2024,  celebrates the completion by Stéphane Bern of his marathon project to restore the Royal and Military College of Thiron-Gardais, Eure-et-Loir.  The former Tiron Abbey, which is now open to the public, became one of Louis XVI's twelve military colleges in 1776.

The martyrs of Compiègne - canonisation confirmed

On 18th December the Pope officially announced the canonisation of the sixteen Carmelite martyrs of  Compiègne",  guillotined as Counter-Revolutionaries in Paris on 17 July 1794.

Madame du Châtelet - new online resource

The Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists at Paderborn University, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ruth E. Hagengrubern, launches its historical and critical digital edition of Émilie Du Châtelet’s Institutions de Physique (17th December).

Gouverneur Morris

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia publishes a podcast devoted to The Life and Constitutional Legacy of Gouverneur Morris (12th December 2024)

A Voltaire bibliography

In a post of 6th December on the Voltaire Foundation blog, Síofra Pierse, Head of Languages at  University College Dublin, comments on her new work Voltaire: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works.

Babeuf - Complete works

The Société des des études robespierriste announces the publication of the first volume of its Complete Works of Babeuf  on 4th December.

Largillière's "Monument Men" portrait

A portrait  by Nicolas de Largillière, which formerly belonged to Henri Rothschild, was sold by Christie's Paris on 21st November for a record €529,200 - ten times more than the original estimate.

Science Museum - Versailles exhibition

This season's major event at the Science Museum in South Kensington is an exhibition on Versailles!  Versailles: Science and Splendour runs from 12th December 2024 to 21st April 2025.

Essays in honour of Nicholas Cronk

Liverpool University Press announces the publication on 29th November of a festschrift in honour of Nicholas Cronk, Director of the Voltaire Foundation, Professor of European Enlightenment Studies, and Fellow of St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford. 

Guérin's Robespierre to be auctioned

On 26th November Millon, Paris, is to auction several notable portrait drawings by Jean-Urbain Guérin. of notable French Revolutionaries.  Included is the original for the well-known engraving of Robespierre made by Freissinger for the collection of 22 deputies to the National Assembly in 1789.

Exhibition on French wallpaper

The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum is holding an exhibition on The Art of French Wallpaper Design, from 16th November to 11th May 2025.  

Glorious French Revolution? (play)

 A new play, The Glorious French Revolution (or why it sometimes takes a guillotine to get anything done),  opens at the New Diorama Theatre to generally positive reviews.

For sale - THE diamond necklace.

All eyes will be on Sotheby's Geneva this November, when a necklace, thought to contain diamonds from the scandalous diamond necklace of 1784, comes under the hammer. 

"Exceptional" Christies sale

Christies have announced the highlights of their ninth "Exceptional sale" which will take place on 20th November. 

New Revolutionary postage stamps

 On 12th November the French post office is to issue two new stamps in its "Great Hours of French History" series. The event depicted will be the women's march to Versailles on 5th October 1789.

Madame du Châtelet (new book)

 The New Yorker for 28th October publishes a review by Adam Gopnic of Andrew Janiak, The Enlightenment's Most Dangerous Woman: Émilie du Châtelet and the Making of Modern Philosophy  (available in the UK at the end of January 2025)

Augustus the Strong

Tim Blanning's new book, Augustus the Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco was published on 3rd October.  It's (almost) enough to make you forsake 18th-century France for 18th-century Germany...

Marie-Antoinette's library

Here is an interesting article, just published in a local US newspaper, with some useful references to Marie-Antoinette's libraries.

Flying tables....

The Carnets de Versailles for 22nd October publishes an article by Stéphane Castelluccio on mechanical chairs and tables, particularly the abortive project for a "flying table" at the Petit Trianon.

Revolution podcast

 Recently updated: "The French Revolution"  on The Rest is History podcast with Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook.  

A Swiss guillotine

 A  new post  on Atlas Obscura features a surviving Revolutionary guillotine on display at the Tavel House in Geneva.  

Times article on the Carnavalet FR expo.

 Adam Sage publishes an article in The Times for 15th October on the new French Revolution exhibition at the Carnavalet.

Horvitz Collection exhibitions

Two exhibitions, of Neoclassical paintings and French drawings from the Horvitz Collection, run at the Art Institute of Chicago, from late October to 6th January 2025

Watteau's Pierrot (exhibition)

A new exhibition centring on Watteau's Pierrot, which has been recently restored, runs at the Louvre from 16th October to 3rd February 2025.

Exploring the Paris catacombs

This September researchers under the direction of medical anthropologist Philippe Charlier have been continuing a scientific exploration of the Paris catacombs begun in September of last year.

A diamond necklace

Sotheby's Geneva  have announced the auction in November of an 18th-century diamond necklace with a pre-sale estimate between $1.8 million and $2.8 million.  The piece is said to incorporate stones from Marie-Antoinette's infamous Diamond Necklace (and it is certainly monstrous enough to make this believable...)

Oudry's hunting scenes (Exhibition)

The exhibition "Jean-Baptiste Oudry and the Royal Hunts of Louis XV" takes place at the Château de Fontainebleau from 12th October 2024 to 27th January 2025.  

Heritage Days in Paris 2024

 The annual Journées du Patrimoine 2024 in Paris and the Ile-de-France take place on 21st and 22nd Museum - here is the schedule.

Year II at the Carnavalet (Exhibition)

The exhibition "Paris 1794-1794: a Revolutionary year" opens at the Musée Carnavalet on 16th October.

Louis XVI before his judges (book)

Olivier Bétourné's new book La Mort du Roi Louis XVI devant ses juges et face à l'Histoire is published on 13th September.

Next year at the V&A: Marie-Antoinette

 The V&A has announced a exhibition for 2025 on Maria Antoinette and her contribution to design and fashion.

Watteau - to be saved for the nation?

A temporary export ban has been placed on Watteau's Le Rêve de L’Artiste, a painting once owned by Sir Robert Walpole. The sum required to keep it in the UK is £6,075,000 (plus VAT of £215,020!)

The Flood - new film

 A new film on the end of the French monarchy, "The Flood" ("Le Deluge")  by Italian director Gianluca Jodice, opened the  Locarno Film Festival in Milan, on 7th August. 

David Andress - Videos & podcasts

The BBC's History Extra podcast and YouTube channel has published a short discussion of the guillotine by David Andress (Video of 18th July 2024).

A Rameau opera reborn

The lost opera “Samson" by Rameau, with libretto by Voltaire, has been recreated by conductor Raphaël Pichon and director Claus Guth and was performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in July (video below)

Olympic reflections

In an online article in the August edition of Rare Book Monthly, Thibault Ehrengard comments on the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games and what it revealed about France's complex relationship with the Revolutionary past.

Saint-Aubin at the Met (Exhibition)

 The Metropolitan Museum announces an exhibition "Paris through the Eyes of Saint-Aubin", which will run from 26th September to 4th February 2025.

Imagination in the Age of Reason (Exhibition)

 The Cleveland Museum of Art is to hold an exhibition, "Imagination in the Age of Reason", from 28th September to 2nd March 2025.

Robespierre in Britain

The ARBR Amis de Robespierre website publishes an informative and impeccably illustrated article by Marianne Gilchrist on "Robespierre in Britain" (published 06.06.2024; in French and English)

Robespierre's nose

 A video of  Marianne Gilchrist's excellent talk on Robespierre portraits, given in Cardiff in December 2022, has now been posted on the website of the ARBR Les Amis de Robespierre. Super-sleuthing Marianne!

Sèvres Extraordinaire! (Exhibition)

A press release has been published for a major new exhibition of Sèvres sculpture at the Bard Graduate Center, New York, which will run from 21th September 2024 to 5th January 2025.

Remembering Alistair Laing

The death has been announced of the art historian Alistair Laing, long-time curator at the National Trust and renowned expert on  French 18th-century painting, drawing and sculpture.

Policing same-sex relations - book and website

A collection of documents on the policing of homosexuality in 18th-century Paris, is published by Penn State University Press. The editor/author is Jeffrey Merrick, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. 

Versailles celebrates the horse (Exhibition)

 A new exhibition, on the role of  horses in  history opens at Versailles to coincide with the Olympic Equestrian events.  Horse in Majesty: At the Heart of a Civilisation will run from 2nd July to 3rd November and features some 300 works displayed in various different areas of the Palace. 

Exhibition on Revolutionary costume

An exhibition on Revolutionary dress will run at the Musée de la la Révolution française at Vizille, from 28th June to 10th November. 

Quentin La Tour book

A new book on Maurice Quentin de La Tour was  published on 6th June.  The volume by Xavier Salmon, Director of works on paper at the Louvre, is the first monograph on the artist since 1928.

The Swing - new insights

 In the The Burlington Magazine for May: Yuriko Jackall, former curator of French paintings at the Wallace Collection outlines new findings on  Fragonard's The swing. The article has been made freely available on the Web: 

Jefferson letter to be auctioned

A rare autograph letter from Thomas Jefferson to Tench Coxe, written from Monticello to be sold by Siegel Auctions on 27th June 2024.  

"In this letter, written in 1795, Jefferson espouses the momentum of the "ball of liberty" and denounces the "atrocities of Robespierre" and the French Reign of Terror".

Remembering Éric Hazan

 The death on 6th June has been announced of the veteran Left-wing historian and publisher Éric Hazan, who  is known particularly for his works on the history of Paris. 

Sèvres at Waddesdon (Exhibition)

 This summer Waddesdon Manor showcases the work of Louis-Denis Armand (1723-1796), an artist at the Sèvres Manufactory who specialised in birds;  the exhibition, "Flights of Fancy: Birds at Waddesdon", runs from 22nd May - 27th October. 

Marie-Antoinette documentary

An English-language versions of the 2020 French TV documentary Marie-Antoinette, les derniers secrets d'une reine has recently been posted on YouTube. 

Hue's memoirs of Louis XVI

Rare Book Monthly for June publishes a short online article by Thibault Ehrengardt on François Hue's account of the last years of Louis XVI.

Beijing exhibition - update

The exhibition "The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles: Exchanges between China and France in the 17th and 18th centuries" is  running at the Palace Museum in Beijing until 30th June.

Chénier opera

  A new production of Umberto Giordano’s 1896 opera Andrea Chénier runs at the Royal Opera House from 30th May to 11th June.  I'm not an opera enthusiast, but the sets certainly look terrific....

Delicious (film)

The 2021 film Delicious, directed by Éric Besnard, is now available to rent from various streaming services, with English subtitles.

Franklin mini-series update

 There are about 10 trillion reviews of the new Franklin mini-series on Apple - here are a couple of the more informative ones:

Marie-Antoinette's pastoral dream...in Hertfordshire

Currently for sale with Savills -  des-res in Antoinette Court,  Abbots Langley, a few miles north of Watford.

Madame Élisabeth - beatification update

 On the 230th anniversary of Madame Élisabeth's death on 10th May, OSV News publishes an update on the ongoing proceedings for her beatification. 

Notable coin sale

On 5th May major collection of French silver ecus was auctioned online by MDC Monaco. 

Ducreux self-portraits

The Spanish cultural website LBV Magazine publishes an article on Ducreux's self-portraits (6th May 2024)

Revolutionary fashion icons (book)

Anne Higonnet's book Liberty Equality Fashion: The Women Who Styled the French Revolution was published in UK on 30th April. 

Mapping the Republic of Letters

BIG THINK publishes a summary and update for the Stanford University digital project, "Mapping the Republic of Letters". 

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard biography

Portrait of a Woman: Art, Rivalry, and Revolution in the Life of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard by Bridget Quinn is published by Chronicle, New York on 16th April (23rd May in the UK)

Marat in medals and coins

This April the website of the Joint Centre for History and Economics at the University of Cambridge, publishes an interesting article on depictions of Marat as part of its "Coins of the Month" series. 

Fountain of the Innocents

"The Fountain of the Innocents: Stories of a Parisian masterpiece" runs at the Musée Carnavalet from 24th April to 25th August.  The exhibition showcases the recent restoration of the  fountain and its place in Les Halles. 

Greuze - new auction record

 On 17th April Christie's auctioned nearly 270 works from an anonymous "Park Avenue Collection". The highlight was a version of Jean-Baptiste Greuze’s "Girl weeping over her dead bird"(1757) which fetched $2,470,000, against an estimate of $600,000-$800,000 -  double the previous record for a Greuze. 

Robespierre letter (update)

 On 11th April the French Minister of Culture issued a statement defending the State's decision not to preempt the iconic letter from Robespierre to Danton, which was auctioned by Osenat in Versailles on 12th March 1793. 
See my post of 02/03/23.

Memoirs of Élisabeth Le Bas

A critical edition of the memoirs of Élisabeth Le Bas by Michel Biard is published by Lemme Edit on 12th April 2024. 

Chevalier de Saint-Georges - on JStor

 JStor Daily posts an open-access article on the life of the Black musician Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges, subject of the recent biopic Chevalier.  The research resources cited are also made available free-to-view. 

Luxury objects at the Musée Cognacq-Jay

 A new exhibition  "Luxe de poche - Petits objets précieux au siècle des Lumières" runs at the Musée Cognacq-Jay until 29th September 2024.

Jean-Clément Martin - the Great Fear (new book)

Jean-Clément Martin's new book, La Grande Peur de Juillet 1789, is published by Tallandier on 21st March.

Age of Revolutions

 The open-access journal "Age of Revolutions" publishes an interview with historian Nathan Perl-Posenthal whose book The Age of Revolutions and the Generations who made it was published on 14th March.

Women at the Chapelle expiatoire

On Friday, 8th March, to mark International Women's Day, flowers from the President of the Republic were left at the tomb of Olympe de Gouges at the Chapelle expiatoire in Paris.

Snapchat the 18th century!

Snapchat has launched "8th of March, 8 Women", a new augmented reality experience for International Women’s Day. 

Measuring the Earth

 History Today publishes a free article by Patricia Fara on the French geodesic expeditions in the 1730s, by La Condamine to Ecuador and Maupertius to the Arctic Circle.

Flour wars

 JStor Daily posts an open-access article on the Flour War of 1775 and its relation to the French Revolution.  The research articles cited are also made available free-to-view. 

The Louvre secures Chardin's Strawberries

 The Louvre  has confirmed today that the final €1.6 m has been raised by public subscription to secure Chardin's The Basket of Wild Strawberries for the museum.  

New Marie-Antoinette biography

 A new biography of Marie-Antoinette by Charles-Éloi Vial was published on 4th January.

Horace Vernet at Versailles

A major exhibition of the work of Horace Vernet runs at the Château de Versailles to 17th March.

The Last Revolutionaries (book)

 French History for February feature  a review of a book I missed before, Laura Mason's The Last Revolutionaries: Gracchus Babeuf and the Equals, published in 2022.

"A drink with Robert Darnton" (Video)

 A video clip posted by The Idler on 9th February in its "A drink with..." series features an informal discussion with Robert Darnton on "The Revolutionary Temper". 

Marie-Antoinette's chocolate money

 The website of design magazine Wallpaper features an article on the famous Paris chocolatier Debauve et Gallais, which was founded by Sulpice Debauve, pharmacist to the court of Louis XVI.

Franklin - Apple TV series

 Apple TV announces an upcoming historical drama series "Franklin", starring and produced by Michael Douglas.  

Remembering Bernard Plongeron

Father Bernard Plongeron, historian of the 18th-century Church, has died at the age of 93 on 31st January.

Revolutionary DNA Archives

What do you know about DNA-based archival technology??   The website Medium tells us that in 2021 two metallic capsules, containing a phenomenal 100 billion copies of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, were ceremonially deposited in the French National Archives.

Vigée Lebrun self-portrait - auction result

It is confirmed that the 1816 Vigée Lebrun self-portrait in travelling costume from the collection of Joseph Baillio was sold by Sotheby's New York on 31st January for a cool $3,085,000, three times the estimate.

Digital Enlightenment studies

The Voltaire Foundation announces the launch of its new open-access  peer-reviewed online journal Digital Enlightenment Studies. 

On Colin Jones

The journal French History publishes a special issue, "Revolution, Art, and Medicine in French History: Essays in Honour of Colin Jones".   

Ridley Scott's Napoleon - just once more....

 The "Aspects of History" Podcasts / YouTube channel has a new interview with Adam Zamoyski:

Boullée - Revolutionary architect

 The American magazine Jacobin publishes an article by Dutch journalist Tim Brinkhof on the architecture of Boullée.

Versailles and China - Beijing exhibition

The Sino-French exhibition  The Palace of Versailles and the Forbidden City: French-Chinese Relations in the 18th Century, which was postponed because of Covid,  is now re-scheduled to run at the Palace Museum, Forbidden City, Beijing, from 1st April to 30th June 2024.

Fabric of Democracy (exhibition)

The exhibition Fabric of Democracy: Propaganda Textiles from the French Revolution to Brexit, curated by design historian Amber Butchart, runs at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London, from 29th September 2023 to 3rd March 2024. 

A Voltaire timeline

The Voltaire Foundation has published an attractive online timeline of the "Life and Works of Voltaire".