'What They Said' Saturday: "It was done with dignity and in such a way as to displease no one."

'What They Said' Saturday: a day for quotations of all kinds, including excerpts from letters written by Marie Antoinette and her contemporaries, memoirs, non-fiction, novels and everything in between.

Although the rivalry between the dauphine Marie Antoinette and Louis XV's mistress Madame du Barry would eventually cause a months-long feud at court, Marie Antoinette did not enter Versailles with a mind to snub the king's favorite.

On June 15th, 1770, the Austrian ambassador Mercy reported to Maria Theresa that Marie Antoinette received Madame du Barry cordially:

"Madame du Barry thought it necessary to go and pay court to [the dauphine] one morning. She was received simply and easily. It was done with dignity and in such a way as to displease no one." [translation: Olivier Bernier, Secrets of Marie Antoinette]

This is a far cry from Marie Antoinette's later behavior of snubbing the favorite, which caused such a furor that it was a subject of discussion between Maria Theresa, Louis XV and the ambassador Mercy. Yet Marie Antoinette's behavior did not come from thin air: Louis XV's daughters, the 'Mesdames,' encouraged the young Marie Antoinette to show disdain for Madame du Barry. 

Ambassador Mercy would share his thoughts on the subject with Maria Theresa, noting that it seemed as if the king's daughters were using Marie Antoinette to express what they dared not:

"It has always struck me that Mesdames, while encouraging Mme la dauphine to be severe and silent [to Madame to Barry] act in a measured way themselves in their behavior to [her], and this conduct is all the more strange as it would appear that they wish to use Mme la dauphine as an instrument of a hatred that they themselves dare not admit." [translation: Margaret Anne Macleod, There Were Three of Us in the Relationship]

Eventually, of course, Marie Antoinette would break away from the influence of her new aunts and placate both the king and Madame du Barry with those famous words; "There are many people at Versailles today."

Film Friday: Pola Negri as Madame du Barry

A screenshot of Pola Negri as the titular character in Madame DuBarry, a 1919 German silent film loosely based on the life of the last mistress of Louis XV. The film was also released as 'Passion' in the United States, though some of the U.S. prints were slightly censored to remove a particularly gruesome scene depicting the head of Madame du Barry being tossed to the crowd.

Madame du Barry: Book Selections

A selection of non-fiction and fiction books about the last mistress of Louis XV: Jeanne Bécu, Madame du Barry.

Non-Fiction

A king's favourite : Madame du Barry by Claude Saint-André

The Trial and Execution of Madame du Barry by Philip M. Laski

Madame du Barry: the Wages of Beauty by Joan Haslip

Du Barry: A Biography by Stanley Loomis

Madame Du Barry by H. Noel Williams

The life and times of Madame du Barry by Robert Bruce Douglas

Fiction

Madame du Barry by Jean Plaidy

The Road to Compiegne by Jean Plaidy

A caricature of Louis XV and Madame du Barry

 

 credit: Devoir de Philosophie

 

Marie Antoinette was not the only figure in the French court to deal with an onslaught of caricatures, propaganda and slanderous pamphlets. Madame du Barry, who was heavily criticized by the denizens of Versailles even before her official presentation at court, was also the subject of frequent literary attacks. These attacks took the form of popular court ditties, published pamphlets, such as one which claimed to reveal the secret lurid history of the king's new mistress, as well as caricatures.

 

The above undated caricature is believed to depict du Barry and Louis XV; the pair are portrayed here as two birds perched on an ornate sofa in an apartment at Versailles. Both are wearing symbols of their status, such as jewels and a sword, despite their degrading animal form.

Gladys George as Madame Du Barry in her Boudoir

credit: my scan/collection

Like every film, MGM's Marie Antoinette underwent several cuts for length and content before it was released for the general public. One of the scenes in the shooting script for the film I obtained earlier this year was an earlier introduction for Madame du Barry and her ladies. In this scene, Madame du Barry lounges on her elaborate bed while her ladies lament the fact that neither they, nor their mistress, are allowed to greet the dauphine.

Although I haven't been able to find any stills of the deleted scene, I was able to find a promotional photograph taken of Gladys George in her costume (and on the set) for this scene, which I posted above. 

The script for this deleted scene can be read here.

Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun on the death of Madame du Barry

credit: Wikimedia Commons

"She was the only woman, among all who perished in those dreadful days, unable to face the scaffold with firmness; she screamed, she sued for pardon to the hideous mob surrounding her, and that mob became moved to such a degree that the executioner hastened to finish his task. This has always confirmed my belief that if the victims of that period of execrable memory had not had the noble pride of dying with fortitude the Terror would have ceased long before it did."

--the memoirs of Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun

Quick Treasure: Madame du Barry by Sir William Russell Flint

Sir William Russell Flint (1880 - 1969) was a Scottish illustrator who is best known for his paintings, illustrations and drawings of beautiful women. His most popular works were inspired by a visit Flint took to Spain, where he was impressed by the beauty and skill of Spanish dancers. But Flint also dabbled in soft, romantic historical portraits--which, like his paintings of Spanish dancers, were sometimes derided by art critics as being 'harshly eroticized.'

This portrait, titled 'Ray as Madame Du Barry,' features a beautiful woman--perhaps a model favored by Flint?--dressed as the illustrious Madame du Barry, last mistress of Louis XV.

image: 'Ray as Madame du Barry' by Sir William Russell Flint.
credit: hauk sven on Flickr

Brief Book Recommendations: Madame du Barry

 

Madame du Barry: The Wages of Beauty by Joan Haslip

A brief and sympathetic biography of the infamous last mistress of Louis XV. This work is best used as a character study of du Barry, rather than a strict resource on her life, as Haslip has a tendency to fudge dates/events and does not cite her work.

Du Barry: A Biography by Stanley Loomis

A sympathetic biography of Jeanne Bécu, the comtesse du Barry, which primarily hopes to correct some of the myths and misconceptions about the life of this infamous courtesan. Although Loomis is definitely biased in favor of Madame du Barry, his work on her life is more reliable than the other readly available English biography by Haslip.