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.