Even the palaces and pleasure grounds of the ci-devant royalty are respected as national property, and , as such, are carefully preserved.
The greater part of the furniture has been removed from Versailles- some of the paintings remain. Those by the best Masters have been sent to the Gallery of the Louvre, which is now the National Museum, where the collection greatly exceeds any other exhibition of the fine arts in the world. It is under the care of a committee, appointed to protect the arts, and is maintained in the most superb style. Such is the war, which these Goths and Vandals wage against the arts!
The late Queen's favorite residence of St Cloud remains as when she occupied it . The paintings will be sent to the museum, and the furniture will be sold.
William Jackson April 1794
When I visited Versailles I thought the palace looked a bit ...empty or even shabby in some of the appartements. Unfortunately we will never be able to see it the way Marie Antoinette did.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame that it costs so much to maintain it even at its lesser glory. I would love to be able to walk the avenues with the same flowers she had, and the apartments with the same furniture and art.
ReplyDeleteWTF!
ReplyDeleteWhy couldn't they tax the nobility?
Perhaps then, the beautiful 18th century French Nobility wouldn't have been destroyed.
I know, I know, I sound like a total aristocrat, but I mean really now.