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December 18, 2013 by Max Distro LLC 1 Comment

Napoléon and the French Crown Jewels

Empress Marie Louise Ruby and Diamond Coronation Crown, Nitot 1810

Empress Marie Louise Ruby and Diamond Coronation Crown, Nitot 1810

While we were in Paris this summer, the Musée de l'Armée had an exhibit, Napoleon and Europe. Part of the exhibit was the fabulous “Chaumet Crown” and the Ruby Parure for Archduchess Marie-Louis of Austria, Napoleon's second wife. Chaumet traces its origins to 1780. Founded by Marie-Etienne Nitot who along with his son Francois-Regnault Nitot became the official jewelers to Napoleon I during the Consulate and the Empire. Napoleon was a real wife-pleaser, lavishing an avalanche of gemstones upon his lady-loves. In the autumn of 1810 an order was placed with the emperor’s favorite jeweler, François-Regnault Nitot, in honor of his new wife, Archduchess Marie-Louise of Habsburg, the daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and niece of Marie-Antoinette. During the autumn of 1810, Nitot, began crafting two new parures, one of emeralds and diamonds, the other of rubies and diamonds. The finished pieces were delivered to the emperor on January 16, 1811. The Ruby Parure set used nearly 400 rubies and more than 6,000 diamonds in all. Both Napoléon I and Napoleon III seemed to love jewels and lavished them on their companions. I thought a post would be a good opportunity to review the history of the French Crown Jewels during and after Napoléon I.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Jewels and Jewelry, The Louvre Tagged With: Archduchess Marie-Louise of Habsburg, Bapst, Berthaud, Chaumet, Empress Eugenie, Evrard and Frederic Bapst, Francois Regnault, French Crown Jewels, Jewelry, Marie Louis, Marie Thérèse, Napoléan, Napoleon and Europe, Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Napoleon I, Napoleon II, Napoleon III, Nitot, Nitot Ruby and Diamond Parure, P.F. Ménière, Parure, Ruby Parure, Tiffany's, Van Cleef and Arples

October 4, 2012 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

The Grand Trianon and Les Dames de Trianon, Versailles

The Grand Trianon, Versailles

The Grand Trianon, Versailles

In 1668, Louis XIV purchased Trianon, a hamlet on the outskirts of Versailles, and commissioned the architect Louis Le Vau to design a porcelain pavilion (Trianon de porcelaine) to be built there, to escape the pomp and rigid formality of court life with his mistress Madame de Montespan. In only a few years the fragile porcelain tiles deteriorated and Louis XIV had it torn down to be replaced with a more robust building.

In 1687 Jules Hardouin Mansart built the Grand Trianon, considered the most refined group of buildings anywhere in the domain of Versailles, on the site of the “Porcelain Trianon”. It is located at the end of the right end of the cross of the Grand Canal seen in the map to the right by the red box. In 1717, Peter the Great of Russia, who was studying the palace and gardens of Versailles, resided at the Grand Trianon; the Grand Palace at Peterhof is copied on Versailles.

We happened to visit during a special exhibition, Les Dames de Trianon (Ladies of the Trianon) which features all the kings’ women, the wives, the daughters, the sisters, the mothers, the ladies-in-waiting, the mistresses. Versailles is trying to revive interest in the often-overlooked Grand Trianon by hosting exhibitions here, like last year’s successful “A Taste of the 18th Century,” which brought together modern designers’ creations inspired by the 18th-century. I will be presenting images of the paintings from the exhibition in addition to images of the Grand Trianon.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: France, History, Museums, Painting, Versailles Tagged With: Empress Josephine, Empress Marie Louise, Grand Trianon, Jean-Marc Nattier, Ladies of Versailles, Les Dames de Trianon, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis-Phillipe, Madame de Maintenon, Madame de Pompadou, Madame Mère, Malachite, Maria Letizia Bonaparte, Marie Antoinette, Marie Thérèse, Marie-Thérèse of Austria, Noël Coypel, Queen Marie-Amélie, Versailles

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