Who Was Marie Antoinette Beneath All That Silk and Spectacle?

"The text of Marie Antoinette Style introduces her as "the most fashionable, scrutinised and controversial queen in history," and the portrait said to be most accurate in likeness has been animated in a wall projection so her visage smirks and twinkles out at us. Here are her most intimate clothes and belongings, an astonishing collection of perfectly preserved tiny slippers, corsets, and jewels; objects marked with her monogram in the caption indicate that they belonged to her personally."

"Reading between the lines (and stitches), we glean an understanding of a political stage where the young queen's sole purpose in life was to stand still at court and provide an heir to the king. "At 14, Antoinette made a dazzling entrance to the French court society at her wedding to the dauphin, the heir to the throne, wearing a shimmering gown of silver cloth," we are told. Its silk "was ordered from Paris at enormous expense by her mother, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.""

"We learn that she popularized styles and had favorite fabrics; that she received an astonishingly fine 1770 jewelry casket by Martin Carlin, on view via loan from Versailles, as a wedding gift. Regarding jewelry itself, the texts tell us that "during Antoinette's reign innovative cuts enhanced the gems' sparkle as never before." In all of this, she is a passive agent. Surrounding pieces she owned are examples of wallpaper style and fabulous new levels of frippery in wigs and hairstyling."

Marie Antoinette is presented as a highly fashionable, scrutinized and controversial figure whose belongings include tiny slippers, corsets and jewels marked with her monogram. A projected portrait animates her visage to smirk and twinkle. Descriptions emphasize her influence as a patron of the arts and her role as a style icon while evading confirmation of political agency. Her youth at marriage is highlighted: at 14 she entered court in a silver gown whose silk was ordered by her mother, Empress Maria Theresa. She popularized fabrics, received a 1770 Martin Carlin jewelry casket, and presided over extravagant wigs including the "Triumph of Liberty" ship hairstyle.

Read at Hyperallergic