This is a detail of my portait by Martin van Meytens. Some art historians have credited van Meytens as being one of the most significant Austrian painters of the Baroque era. This painting was painted before I went to France in 1770. I was around 15 years old. The little ruff around my neck was an 18th century interpretation of Elizabethan ruffs, a very trendy way to go. I was born an Archduchess of Austria, was Dauphine of France from 1770 to 1774 and Queen of France and Navarre from 1774 to 1792. I was fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. Initially charmed by my personality and beauty, the French people eventually came to dislike me, accusing "L'Autrichienne" (which literally means the Austrian (woman), but also suggests the French word "chienne", meaning bitch) of being profligate, promiscuous, and of harbouring sympathies for France's enemies, particularly Austria, my country of origin. The Diamond Necklace incident (a crime of defrauding the crown jewellers of the cost of a very expensive diamond necklace) damaged my reputation further. I later became known as Madame Déficit because France's financial crisis was blamed on my lavish spending. (found at Wikipedia)
other pictures of Marie Antoinette:
interesting Marie Antoinette facts:
* she was only 14 years old when she married the future Louis XVI
* it took seven years for the future king and queen to consummate their marriage
* Marie Antoinette was a teen idol
* her towering bouffant hairdo once sported a battleship replica
* a fairy-tale village was built for her at Versailles
* Marie Antoinette never said “Let them eat cake.”
* she was buried in an unmarked grave and then exhumed
(all facts found at History)
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