“Marie was not considered beautiful by the standards of the day, which required a pale complexion, blond hair and blue eyes, Marie was blessed with an abundance of dark curls, a swarthy complexion, and brown eyes”
SOURCE;
(Josephine Wilkinson, “Louis XIV: The Power and the Glory”)
Marie Antoinette was the great granddaughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor…
Leopold I and Louis XIV were first cousins once removed…
Louis XIV & James Francis Edward Stewart were cousins…
LOUIS XIV — “Brown complexion”; “His skin was as BLACK as ink”; “Swarthy complexion”
LOUISE (his daughter) — “Extremely swarthy”; “Very Brown”
LOUIS XV — “swarthy complexion”
MARIE ANTOINETTE — “swarthy complexion”
LEOPOLD I — “swarthy complexion”
CHARLES VI — “swarthy complexion”
JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STEWART— “Light-Brown complexion”
CHARLES II — “Tall Black man”
(Charles II’s sons and grandson, are also described verbatim in first hand historical accounts as tall black men, and as having “black complexions”…)
DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND— “a tall, black man, like his father the King”
DUKE OF GRAFTON— “grandson to King Charles II; a tall black man”
CHARLES LENNOX, DUKE OF RICHMOND— “black complexion, much like King Charles”
DUKE OF ST. ALBANS—“son to King Charles the Second, he is of a black complexion”
This portrait on the left is now titled "Portrait of a young woman"
It was painted by Jean Etienne Liotard in 1770...
In 1770, Jean Etienne Liotard was commissioned by Maria Theresa of Austria to paint this portrait of her daughter Marie Antoinette...
In May 1770, Marie Antoinette became Dauphine of France at age 14 upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, (Louis XVI) heir apparent to the French throne...
She was the last Queen of France before the French Revolution...
Both of these portraits are said to have been painted by Liotard in 1770…
However, only one of these portraits was actually painted by Liotard in 1770…
In comparing these two portraits allegedly attributed to Jean-Etienne Liotard, the distinction between the authentic work and a possible imitation becomes starkly clear through the depth of realism, anatomical accuracy, and technical execution…
The portrait on the left captures a level of realism, detail, and refinement that clearly marks it as the authentic Liotard, while the one on the right lacks these hallmarks of mastery…
The girl’s skin is rendered with smooth, virtually invisible brushstrokes, creating the illusion of soft, lifelike flesh…
The transitions between light and shadow are subtle, contributing to a three-dimensional appearance that enhances her natural beauty…
The pearls around her neck, delicately placed, shine with just the right amount of light reflection…
The artist captures natural light hitting her face, with strategic highlights and shadows that define the contours of her cheekbones, nose, and jawline…
The interplay of light and shadow is natural and convincing, contributing to the painting’s overall realism…
The figure on the right is almost cartoonish in comparison to the realism of the left…
Her neck is unnaturally elongated, her shoulders are disproportionately wide and flat, and her facial structure is overly simplified, failing to capture the complexity of human anatomy…
The strokes in the portrait are far less refined…
There’s a notable lack of transition between colors, particularly in her skin tone, which appears flatter and more washed out…
The lighting in this work is harsh and unnatural…
The highlights seem to sit on the surface without properly integrating into the skin, causing the figure to appear more like a doll than a real person…
The muted, grayish tones of her hair clash with her youthful face, creating a disjointed visual experience…
Given that Liotard was commissioned to paint Marie Antoinette in 1770, this portrait on the left, with its stunning realism and detail, aligns perfectly with the historical descriptions of her appearance…
The portrait not only reflects Liotard’s renowned skill as a realist painter but also matches the firsthand accounts of Marie’s swarthy complexion…
This image of Marie Antoinette, depicted with warm brown skin is far more aligned with the true appearance of the woman described by contemporary historians than the stylized, pale-skinned representations that came later…
The historical descriptions of Marie’s relatives—Louis XIV, Louis XV, Leopold I, and others—all point to a consistent pattern of swarthy, brown and black skin tones within European royalty, which further solidifies the argument that the portrait on the left is an authentic depiction of Marie Antoinette…
This painting, capturing her with rich detail and lifelike accuracy, represents the real Marie Antoinette, rather than the idealized, whitewashed versions seen in other portraits…
Given that Marie Antoinette’s ancestry included so many individuals with swarthy, brown and black complexions, it makes sense that she would also have exhibited these traits…
This stands in stark contrast to the false imagery of Marie as a pale, porcelain-skinned royal, which was clearly more of a constructed image than a true reflection of her physical traits…
The accounts of her ancestors and relatives with similar complexions reinforce the argument that Marie herself, as shown in the left portrait, had a rich brown complexion and was misrepresented in many of the more traditional European portraits…
This authentic, lifelike depiction aligns with the true historical reality of Marie Antoinette’s heritage and appearance, making a convincing case that the left portrait is indeed her true likeness…
Marie Antoinette was guillotined at 12:15 p.m. on October 16, 1793…
Her last words are recorded as, "Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l’ai pas fait exprès" or "Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose", after accidentally stepping on her executioner's shoe…
SOURCES;
(Memoirs of the Secret Services of John Macky, Esq., During the Reigns of King William, Queen Anne, and King George I. Including, Also, the True Secret History of the Rise, Promotions, & of the English and Scots Nobility, Officers, Civil, Military, Naval, and Other Persons of Distinction, from the Revolution, in Their Respective Characters at Large; 1733)
(Voltaire, “The Age of Louis XIV.: To which is Added, an Abstract of The Age of Louis XV”; 1780)
(Thomas Pike Lathy, “Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. Comprising Biography and Anecdotes of the Most Celebrated Characters of that Period, Styled the Augustan Era of France. In Three Volumes.; 1819)
(James Peller Malcom, "Londinium Redivivum Or an Ancient History and Modern Description of London, Compiled from Parochial Records, Archives of Various Foundations, the Harleian Mss. and Other Authentic Sources"; 1802)
(Sir Richard Phillips, "The Monthly Magazine" Vol.13; 1802)
(Richard Wilkinson, "Louis XIV")
(J. Dodsley, "The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1774"; 1775)
(James Francis Edward, the Old Chevalier; Martin Haile; 1907)
(Norman Chevers, "An Enquiry into the circumstances of the Death of King Charles the Second"; 1861)
(Henry Cary, ‘Memorials Of The Great Civil War In England From 1646 To 1652 ; Edited From Original Letters In The Bodleian Library Volume 2’; 1842)
(George Gounter, ‘The Last Act in the Miraculous Story of King Charles the Second's Escape Out of the Reach of His Tyrannical Enemies ... Now First Published from the Original MS’; 1846)
(“A Narrative of The Adventures of Charles the Second after The Battle of Worcester”; 1859)
(Thomas Salmon, "Modern History Or the Present State of All Nations - Volume 2"; 1745)
(Robert K. Massie, “Peter the Great: His Life and World”)
(Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Pöllnitz, "The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz"; 1737)
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