French history
-
“Widow Clicquot” Review for BSECS Criticks
You might remember that earlier this year, I shared this post about the fascinating life of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, the Widow Clicquot who revolutionised the Clicquot champagne house to be the Veuve Clicquot it is world-renowned as today. Well, I am very happy to share a review I wrote of that film for BSECS Criticks read more
-
Marie-Antoinette’s biggest fan: Empress Eugénie
Fewer women have captured cultural imagination like Marie-Antoinette. Her fascination endures today, and it did so almost immediately after her death in the French revolution. And one of her biggest fans, who sat at the helm of cult-like adoration for who they saw as a martyr queen, was Empress Eugénie. Empress Eugénie was born in read more
-
Mini-Post | Charles-Antoine Coypel
I am obsessed with the luxury of the fabrics, bows, ruffles and utter GLOW of this piece in the Met’s collection: to me, it is so romantic, enhanced by the use of pastels. This is a Coypel portrait of Marie Elisabeth de Séré de Rieux and her husband François de Jullienne. Julienne was a collector read more
-
Mini-Post | Château de la Reine Blanche
I have just come back from a lovely week in France where we travelled for a friend’s wedding. We were lucky enough to visit Chantilly, and there was a tiny landmark in the nearby forest that I could not resist visiting, as it played a pivotal role in one of my most favourite films… In read more
-
Mini-Post | The Royal Chapel at Versailles
Six years ago today I was with two of my best friends in Paris – one was living there at the time, and we had gone to visit her. It was one of the best trips and perhaps my favourite day was the one in which we went to the Palace at Versailles. It was read more
-
On my period drama radar | Winter 2022
After a lot of early nineteenth-century focussed period dramas earlier this year, I’m excited to have lots of different things Dangerous Liaisons Confession: I’ve never read Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, nor seen an adaptation of it. And there are some good ones to choose from: the 1988 film starring John Malkovich, read more
-
Mini-Post | Toulouse-Lautrec’s Dinner with the Natansons
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec sketched this when he was being hosted by Thadée and Misia Natanson for dinner. Misia commands the scene in the middle: as one half of the ruling couple of Paris’ intellectual elite, she was painted by many artists and even inspired several characters written by Marcel Proust. She was a wonderful pianist read more
-
Mini-Post | Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
It’s Renoir’s 180th birthday tomorrow (but I have another on this day post to share too!) so here is an early post on him and my favourite of his paintings, The Umbrellas… (all those shades of blue are so wonderful!) read more
-
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Happy 180th birthday to Berthe Morisot! Born on this day in 1841, I’ll be celebrating her life and work in today’s post! read more
-
10 things to know about the very sparkling history of Champagne
Instead of reflecting on what has possibly been the most fraught year in recent memory, I thought I’d instead look ahead and wish you all the best for 2021 – may your new year be full of sparkle and happiness! read more
Subscribe
Enter your email below to receive updates.
Dr. Lizzie Rogers 