Marie-Antoinette: Art Before and After the French Revolution

Before the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette commissioned lavish artworks and architectural buildings as seen in the ornate interiors of Versailles and the Petit Trianon. Symbolic of her role as a queen at the height of French style and extravagance are some of the most outrages pieces like the 'breast cup' pictured above.

After the Revolution, her image was transformed in art into a symbol of excess and tyranny, with anti-royalist propaganda depicting her downfall. No wonder that the art created after the revolution changed into the kind emphasizing reason, order, heroism, and virtue.

With the current exhibition: Marie Antoinette Style, Shaped by the most fashionable queen in history, at the Victoria & Albert Museum 20/09/25-22/03/26, it is time to look at some of the extravagance and the reaction it caused in the arts.

Delivered by art historian Mariska Beekenkamp-Wladimiroff

Should you want to watch this talk live online or as a replay, please contact Mariska@arthistoricallondon.com.