Leafdays

I’m fascinated by the way Marie Antoinette has taken the art world by storm. After all, there is no doubt that she was a disastrous queen.

A deep-set xenofobia and the French Revolution may have helped paint her worse than she really was, but there is no doubt that Marie Antoinette—brought up in the safe cocoon of the Austrain court, in the shadow of her powerful mother, then thrusted very young into the intrigues of Versailles and flanked by an ineffectual, weak husband—was unable to understand the needs and wants of her people, and steer or at least stem the events that eventually led to her downfall and execution.

Her wisdom, diplomacy and statecraft were all sorely lacking, especially when compared with other reignign women—Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, even her own mother, Marie-Therese.

But the very frivolity that made her so unpopular in life has become her legacy—one of fashion, jewellery and decorating. The vivid colours, the lace and soft fabrics, the simple but feminine clothes have turned her into an icon of style and beauty—eclipsing her political inadequacy but also the dedication to her children, which was uncommon in a woman of that era and a queen to boot.

There is no doubt that Marie Antoinette set the trends in Versailles, single handedly changing customs and looks. It was expected of her role as Dauphine and then Queen but it was also, perhaps, a way to escape from the strictures of court life. And it is this one moment of joy of a fundamentally unhappy woman that I want to celebrate by taking part in Joy’s Marie party, which starts today and ends on Tuesday April 7.

Joy’s party is timed to match the launch of Stampington’s Marie magazine, all about Marie Antoinette-inspired art, where some of her exquisitely delicate jewellery is featured. But for me, it also comes on the day when I have joined the Marie Antoinette mail art group, a community of artists that make Marie Antoinette inspired ATCs, postcards, cards, dolls and altered art. So this is, in a way, my own little celebration within the celebration.