Remembering David Bindman

 The death has been announced of David Bindman, Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at University College London.  Among many achievements Professor Bindman is remembered as curator of the British Museum's groundbreaking 1989 exhibition on British representations of the French Revolution.

"Le Père la chaise" verdict ... Guilty!

No real surprises there!  But one suspects he has got away quite lightly....

The furniture fraud who hoodwinked Versailles....

 After nine years  of investigation, the verdict in the infamous fake chairs trial is to be delivered on Wednesday!  In the meantime, here is a good summary article in English from the BBC News website. 

Darrin McMahon on Equality

The Voltaire Foundation blog publishes a post by Darrin McMahon on the concept of Equality in  Enlightenment thought,  based on a lecture given on April 5, 2025 at the Oxford Literary Festival, sponsored by the Voltaire Foundation.

Portrait of Louis XVII by Marie-Antoinette

The most poignant of the lots on offer at the Osenat sale "Royalty atVersailles", held on 18th May was this striking portrait of Louis-Charles of France in the prison of the Temple attributed to Marie-Antoinette. Annotated by the Empress Eugénie, "Drawn by his Unfortunate mother". Sold for €10,498.

Lock of Marie-Antoinette's hair

The Osenat sale "Royalty at Versailles" held on 18th May included several important items of Marie-Antoinette memorabilia, including her missel and a lock of her hair, which was sold to an anonymous buyer for  € 9,660.

Marie-Antoinette's pooche

 Also among the lots of the recent Osenat sale "Royalty at Versailles", held 18th May 20 2025, was this cute presumed portrait of 'Pompon', Marie-Antoinette's beloved dog by Jacques Barthélemy Delamarre. (Sold for €9,274.)

Napoleon's sword auctioned

On 22nd May a sabre which belonged to Napoleon was sold by Giquello in Paris for the huge sum of €4.6 million of €700,000–€1 million.  

Robert Darnton on The Writer's Lot

Robert Darnton's latest book The Writer's Lot: Culture and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France (Harvard U.P.) is to be published on 30th May.

The Choiseul snuffbox - unpacked

A lecture by American historian Meredith Martin, posted on Youtube on 12th May, explores  wider themes suggested by the "Choiseul Snuffbox" (acquired by the Louvre in 2023).

À la table de Voltaire (Exhibition)

 The exhibition  "À la table de Voltaire" runs at the Château de Voltaire at Ferney, from 8th May 2025 to 4th January 2026.

The Martyrs of Orange

 On 11th May Avignon's Archbishop François Fonlupt and neighboring bishops will mark the 100th anniversary of the beatification of the Martyrs of Orange — 32 religious sisters guillotined in July 1794  for refusing to renounce their faith.

Napoleon letter auctioned

 A hand-written letter from Napoleon denying his role in the kidnapping of Pope Pius VII in 1809 was sold by Osenat on 27th April for €26,360.

New Biography of Maria-Theresa

Richard Bassett's Maria Theresa Empress: The Making of the Austrian Enlightenment is published by Yale University Press is on 25th February.

Maisons de plaisance (exhibition)

 The exhibition "Pleasure houses in the Parisian countryside from Louis XIV to Napoleon III" runs at the  Museum of the Royal Domain of Marly, from 11th April to 31st August.  

Artists and Models - BBC vintage docu-drama

BBC4 is currently repeating the classic 1986 series Artists and Models, directed by Leslie Megahey, which dramatises the careers of David, Ingres and Gericault.

The Revolutionary press

The Communist for 27th March features an article by Jonathan Hinckley on French Revolutionary journalism, one of a series which discusses the development revolutionary press. 

Marie-Antoinette's eating habits

 The American website Tasting Table publishes a short post on "What Marie-Antoinette ate in a day, according to historians".   Not that much at all, it would seem....

Chairs in high places - the trial

The high-profile case involving Bill Pallot's fraudulent sale of fake 18th-century chairs has finally come to trial.  He has apparently confessed all - wonder what his sentence will be?

Lynn Hunt on the Revolutionary self

Dr.Lynn Hunt publishes a new book, The Revolutionary Self: Social Change and the Emergence of the Modern Individual, 1770–1800 (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2025).  Available in the UK from 25th March.

Portrait of Louis XV on display at Versailles

 The Château de Versailles announces a special display of its recently acquired pastel portrait of Louis XV by Rosalba Carriera. The work, purchased in July 2024, can now be seen in the former apartments of Madame de Maintenon.

Reconstruction work at Saint-Denis

 Notre-Dame is not the only Parisian church scheduled for renovation! At the Basilica Saint-Denis the tower and north spire, dismantled for safety reasons in 1846, are to be reconstructed. 

New film on Olympe de Gouges

 The 2023 TV film Olympe, une femme dans la Révolution was broadcast on 3rd March on France 2 and is now available on streaming services, including Prime Video, though, sadly, not as yet in the UK. The producer is Julie Gayet, who also stars in the title role.

Remembering Jean Calas

Today, we remembers the condemnation of Jean Calas on 9th March 1762 and Voltaire's fight for his rehabilitation. 

Watteau exhibition at Chantilly

From 8 March to 15 June 2025, the Château de Chantilly is devoting an exhibition to Watteau,  centring  around the holdings of the Musée Condé  (four paintings and six drawings) which have been newly restored.

The Revolution in 50 objects

 Jean-Clément Martin's lastest book La Révolution française – 50 objets racontent is published on 27th Feb.

Joseph Chalier lived here....

 In Lyon, rue de la Bourse, "at the sign of the Grand Tambour", Joseph Chalier once resided - imaged posted on X by Paul Chopelin  26.02.2025.

Marie-Antoinette biopic - Season 2

 The second season of the blockbuster TV series Marie-Antoinette, written by Deborah Davis, and staring  Emilia Schüle and British actor Louis Cunningham, airs on Canal+ on February 17, 2025, and on PBS on March 23, 2025.  Promised soon on the BBC.

Dumas - "Black Devil" (film)

 French director Helmer Ladj Ly is to write and direct a new film Dumas: Black  Devil.

Art Institute of Chicago acquires Horvitz collection

Art Institute of Chicago announces the gift of the Horvitz Collection of French Old Master paintings and drawings, the subject of a recent exhibition.

Fashion victims (Video)

The National Arts Club in New York presents a talk by Dr. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, author of Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette (2015).  

Fifty years of the "Voltaire Room"

This January the Voltaire Foundation blog marks the 50-year anniversary  of the "Voltaire Room", in the basement of the Taylor Institution in Oxford, which houses the collection of 18th-century books bequeathed by Theodore Besterman.

New UK Puy du Fou theme park

Puy du Fou has launched a consultation for a new £600m UK theme park to be sited near Bicester in Oxfordshire. The planning application is to be submitted in the summer, and if approved, the park could be built by 2028/29.

The Revolution in Lyon (exhibition)

The Departmental Archives in Lyon currently features an exhibition on the Revolution in the Lyon area. "Ruptures et Fondations: La Révolution dans le Rhône et à Lyon" runs at from 20th September 2024 to 23rd March 2025.

Best of all possible worlds?

 The New Yorker discusses the career of Leibniz on the occasion of two newly published English language biographies, Audrey Borowski’s Leibniz in His World: The Making of a Savant (Princeton U.P.) and Michael Kempe’s The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Life of Leibniz in Seven Pivotal Days (Norton).

Hervé Leuwers on the Revolution (book)

 PUF announce the publication on 15th January of a second edition of Hervé Leuwers's 2020 book La Révolution française.

Haiti remembers its Revolution

On 1st-2nd January Haiti celebrated its 221st Independence Day in Port-au-Prince.  Haiti is a country with many problems, but the busts of the Haitian Revolutionaries were splendid. 

400 years of the Palais-Royal (exhibtion)

 The Domaine national du Palais-Royal in Paris is currently celebrating 400 years of history with a free exhibition.