LOUIS XVI
1754-1793

Painting of Louis XVI

MARIE-ANTOINETTE
(1755–1793)
painted by Marie Vigee-Lebrun

Louis XVI died on the guillotine, in 1793,
during the period of the French Revolution
which was called "la Terreur",

The same thing happened to Marie-Antoinette, his Queen,
and yet he had been beloved by his people.

So where did it start?

We can look at his beginning on the throne.
It was 1774 when LOUIS XV died

Painting of Louis XV

The new king and queen exclaimed,
'Protect us, Lord, for we reign too young.' The new king was twenty years old.

Louis XVI (1754-1793) was not only young, he was unprepared to govern; educational efforts had focused on his elder brother, who died prematurely.

The new monarch's natural qualities-piety, loyalty, sense of duty, curiosity and interest in technology-were not the ones required of a king.

And his lack of personal presence was in sharp contrast to the majesty of his predecessors! His love for his people (who reciprocated it) could not compensate for his total lack of decisiveness, which proved fatal for the monarchy.

His Great-Grand-Father LOUIS XIV

had set a record on the throne, starting his reign at 5 years old (1643-1715) and changed the Monarchy's lifestyle in France, especially with his many Official Mistresses,
Mme de Montespan

who had several children by him, Mlle de Fontanges, Mme de Maintenon whom he married after Queen Maria-Theresa's death. Louis XIV was also the one who built Versailles, having the marshland reclaimed.

Louis XIV also commissioned Le Brun to build
La Galerie des Glaces

known in English as The Hall of Mirrors.
It was erected to the glory of Louis XIV and is now the chief masterpiece of Versailles. It was begun in 1678 when the chateau became the official residence, disrupting the order of the salons known as the Apartment of the Planets.
On the signing of the Treaty of Nijmegen, which represented the highpoint of his reign, Louis XIV ordered Le Brun to depict his government's accomplishments on the ceiling of the hall.
Le Brun designed thirty compositions, framed by stucco-work, showing the monarch in various guises: Roman emperor, great administrator of the kingdom, and victor over foreign powers.

Three Queens resided in Versailles:
Marie-Thérèse d’Espagne (1638-1683)
wife of Louis XIV in 1660
Marie Leszczinska (1703-1768)
wife of Louis XV in 1725
Marie-Antoinette d’Autriche (1755-1793)
wife of Louis XVI in 1770

La Chapelle Royale
The Chapel royal of Versailles was consecrated to Saint Louis who was Louis IX, son of Blanche de Castille. The chapel features a tribune overlooking the nave, which is on the same level as the royal apartments.

All three monarchs Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI attended daily mass from that tribune, and it was an important moment in a king's day. The courtiers occupied the nave while the ladies were in the lateral galleries.

Members of the Chapel music, renowned throughout Europe, occupied the steps around the organ.

Louis XIV's grandson, Louis XV, also reigned long years: Louis XV's 59-year reign (1715–1774) was marked by great prosperity thanks to quiet borders, domestic peace, demographic growth, and technical progress.

A taste for elegance and luxurious refinement within a convivial atmosphere took hold in France and then spread to the rest of Europe.

Versailles set the tone,
attaining a moment of perfection in the 1750s when
Madame de Pompadour (Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson)
reigned at court as the arbiter of fashion.

Madame de Pompadour belonged to a family of grand Parisian bankers and received a refined education. She soon became known as one of the most beautiful and wittiest women in Paris.
At age 24, she was presented at court, where she became the mistress of Louis XV, who ennobled her as the Marquise de Pompadour. Although she was the focus of the king's passion for only five years, she remained his friend until her death in 1764 at the age of 43. She would have a secret child from the King, raised in Villette. The apartments that the Marquise de Pompadour occupied at Versailles can still be seen today and she remained on good terms with the royal family and displayed respect for the Queen, whose dignity and benevolence made her a great queen.

LOUIS XV's Royal Family
At age fifteen, Louis XV married Maria Leszczinska, daughter of the king of Poland.

Maria Leszczinska

By the time he was 27, Louis had already fathered ten royal children, seven of whom survived — the Dauphin (father of the future Louis XVI) and six royal princesses, who were collectively known as 'Mesdames'.

Ange-Jacques Gabriel
Before becoming chief architect to Louis XV and friend of Madame de Pompadour, Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698–1782) trained at Versailles in the school of Hardouin-Mansart, where he learned the monumentality and sobriety that led naturally to his mature style based on the forms and elements of ancient architecture. For 40 years, Gabriel supplied all designs not only for construction projects but also for the constant interior remodeling of Versailles, the Petit Trianon, the Opera, the Gabriel wing, and so on.
see Chateau de Versailles' website at www.chateauversailles.fr/EN/240.asp

MARIE-ANTOINETTE DE HAPSBOURG LORRAINE

Even when you know nothing about History, it is a fact that most people around the world DO know about Marie Antoinette, for being THE French Queen who literally "lost her head" in 1793, during the FRENCH REVOLUTION.

Marie-Antoinette is still loved by many and is well remembered for her beauty, simplicity and extravagance.

Marie-Antoinette of Hapsburg-Lorraine, born in 1755, was the daughter of the all-powerful Maria Theresa who reigned in Vienna.

MARIE-ANTOINETTE

Marie-Antoinette de Hapsbourg-Lorraine
(1755–1793)