Louis XV Research Articles

Non-Invasive Raman Analysis of 18th Century Chinese Export/Armorial Overglazed Porcelain: Identification of the Different Enameling Techniques

Six rare porcelains of the Qing Dynasty, in particular, dishes ordered respectively for Philibert Orry, the Duke of Penthièvre and a tureen from the service of Louis XV, with royal coat-of-arms, were analyzed non-invasively by Raman microspectrometry. A coffee pot with a rare decoration attributed to Cornelius Pronk was also analyzed as well as two plates, one decorated with an Imari-style pattern and the second post-decorated in the Low-Countries/Holland. The enamel types and coloring or opacifying agents were identified on the basis of combined Raman and SEM-EDXS analysis previously published as well as new section and surface analysis of five plate samples representative of different technologies (blue-and-white, Famille rose). The use of lead oxide for the preparation of overglaze is demonstrated. For the first time, the use of borax in the blue overglaze according to the recipe from the 1753 manuscripts of French chemist Jean Hellot is demonstrated on Chinese porcelain. This fact, like the use of cobalt free of manganese, demonstrates the use of European ingredients and/or recipes for ceramics exported from China to Europe. The highlighting of the use of different recipes or raw materials for porcelain from the same period can therefore be the signature of different workshops. For instance, three different Raman signatures of red decoration were identified from the hematite vibration modes: very narrow modes for Pronk’ coffee pot and Louis XV tureen, broad for Orry’ dish and intermediate for the others. Three workshops are thus expected. It is interesting to note that the use of arsenic for the realization of white enamels corresponds to the latest objects, made after 1738. China was therefore in the 18th century both an importer of European know-how, design and an exporter of enameled products made with imported technologies to Europe.

The Eastern Policy of France in the Second Half of the 17th — Second Half of the 18th Century

The article reveals the peculiarities of the eastern policy of France in the second half of the 17th — second half of the 18th century. During the reign of Kings Louis XIV and Louis XV, the eastern policy of France underwent significant changes. At the beginning of this period, the main goal of the “eastern barrier” was to confront the Austrian Habsburgs. To this end, the government of Louis XVI used, first of all, the alliance with the Principality of Transylvania. Problems in the east distracted the Habsburgs from the wars in Europe. During the reign of Louis XV, France's foreign policy became much less consistent. At the beginning of the reign of this monarch, the policy of the “eastern barrier” continued, only now it was directed primarily against Russia, since France was very concerned about the Austro-Russian military alliance. Later, the so-called “reversal of alliances” took place, which eventually led to the Seven Years' War, during which France was on the same side with Austria and Russia, and the policy of the “eastern barrier” was temporarily forgotten. After the turn of Russian policy towards an alliance with Prussia, France is also returning to its traditional policy of containing Russia. This was reflected in the support of the Bar Confederation in Poland and pushing the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate to war with Russia. However, this policy has not led to any significant results. Apparently, the traditional alliance with the Ottoman Empire for France already at that moment did not seem so attractive to some French politicians. The weakening of the Ottoman Empire was presented to them as a possible reason for the seizure of its territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt for example.

The Ordinance of 1760

Louis XV’s Ordinance of 1760 is an example of unsuccessful heraldic regulation, which marked the general decline of Western European historical heraldry in the eighteenth century. The document required that the nobles would be divided into categories and the right to hold a coat of arms was to be paid for. The Ordinance laid down potential prices, different for individuals and corporations, and even imposed certain restrictions on coats of arms for non-nobles. The latter were essentially barred from having coats of arms, with the exception of those who held military, fiscal, judicial and municipal offices. The Parliament of Paris banned the execution of the Royal Ordinance and subjected it to harsh criticism. It was interpreted as a lawless act and an attempt to impose a new tax. The reservation of the coat of arms to the nobility alone was too radical a change in heraldic legislation. On the whole, this attempt at royal legislation is a clear indication of how coats of arms were treated in the modern era, and its fate is an additional feature of the nature of the French absolutist state. The reader is offered a full translation of the document.

The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame Du Barry by Tracy Adams and Christine Adams

Reviewed by: The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame Du Barry by Tracy Adams and Christine Adams Patrick Ball Adams, Tracy, and Christine Adams, The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame Du Barry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2020; hardback; pp. xii, 236; R.R.P. US$89.95; ISBN 9780271085975. Notwithstanding its somewhat unpromising opening words—'Semiformalized extraconjugal relationships' (p. ix)—this work is written in a highly readable style, rendering it accessible, as well as of potential interest, to non-scholarly individuals, not only academics. That said, its aims are squarely academic. France's 'official' royal mistresses have received attention to date mostly from popular historians, whose aim has been titillation, not serious scrutiny. Tracy Adams and Christine Adams set out, by examining nine of the most prominent, to determine how the phenomenon of the French royal mistress came about. As they stress, though rulers' concubines were nothing new, in France they developed into something unique: not just the king's lover, they had a recognized position at court, and might be influential political advisors. How did this happen? The analytical framework adopted is that of Fernand Braudel's time cycles. While this approach has explanatory power regarding the mistresses themselves, it stresses the connections their history has with things evolving concurrently. The authors argue that the French royal mistress took on her peculiar character when longstanding medieval attitudes to women (that they were as capable as [End Page 145] men, though legally inferior) aligned with the fifteenth-century rise of male royal favourites, who had no claim to power through birth but wielded influence via the king's favour, plus the growing theatricalization of the court in the sixteenth century. With these key criteria satisfied, the stage was set for female favourites who, without formal status, were nonetheless thought competent to offer the monarch advice. To come into being, the role still awaited the right woman and the right king. As can be seen, this book inserts itself into existing scholarship on a range of topics. While the nature of the subject would always have made it relevant to fields such as court history, women's history, and so on, the approach highlights such interconnections. Having foreshadowed their line of attack in a valuable introduction, the authors' development of the role of mistress is then pursued by means of a series of chapters devoted to individuals, beginning with Agnès Sorel, who, they contend, pre-dated the coalescence of factors that brought into being the 'official' royal mistress. The lives and fates of the individuals treated in these chapters, Sorel not least, present their own interest. However, the broader argument commences in the sixteenth century, when court behaviour became more artificial and theatrical in the wake of Castiglione's Book of the Courtier. The authors trace the 'official' mistress's history, from its inception with Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly and Diane de Poitiers, mistresses of François I and Henri II, through the ill-fated Gabrielle d'Estrées (Henri IV), then the mistresses of Louis XIV and Louis XV, to the Revolution. Essential to the position of mistress, the authors argue—and this will be the volume's main contribution to scholarly debate—was the fact she represented an 'open secret', whereby everybody knew of her presence, and drew on her patronage or influence as needed, but nobody formally acknowledged she existed. That could happen because of the dissimulation now characteristic of the court; it meant that alongside the foreign-born queens, whose loyalties were always suspect, might live another woman, capable of giving the king political advice since her primary devotion was always to him and to France. The mistress therefore became the centre of cultural and political activity at court, with the queen the centre of virtue and propriety. This open secret, however, depended on the mistress having some pre-existing reason for attendance at court: she might herself be an aristocrat or belong to a family of royal officials. Nobody then needed to explain why she was there. Part of the authors' case is that if this 'open secret' came...

Geografii teatrale pe firul istoriei și al râului (III): Sena – via Marly – spre Versailles

The study follows the cultural route fertilized by the Seine, after exiting Paris towards the west. It is about the impressive hydrographic adduction of the river with the help of the „Marly machine“, in order to animate the water games and the fireworks in the gardens of Versailles / Trianon palace during the reign of Louis XIV. In this space, a culture of the outdoors spectacle was developed, through royal entertainment and gallant games, but also via private theatrical performances held in various venues, of which the most imposing is the one finalized by Louis XV: the Royal Opera added to the north wing of the palace. The names of the great classics of the theatre can be linked to these spectacle events, such as Corneille, Racine, Molière, and also the musician Lully, the choreographer Beauchamp, or the intendant Viga- rani, not to mention the architectural spectacle resulting from the collaboration of the Sun King with his famous court artists: architects (Le Vau, Le Nôtre, Mansart, etc.) and painters (Le Brun, Poussin, etc.).

Prancūzų slaptoji misija Abiejų Tautų Respublikoje: barono Antoine’o- Charles’io de Vioménilio vaidmuo Baro konfederacijoje 1771–1772 m.

Antoine-Charles du Houx, Baron de Vioménil (1728–1792) was sent by the French Government after Colonel Charles-François Dumouriez (1729–1823) to provide guidance to the leaders of the Bar Confederacy during the years 1771–1772. However, if Colonel Dumouriez is famous because of his activities during the French Revolution, namely for the determinant role he played at the Valmy battle (1792), it is different when it comes to the Baron. Except for some articles in the 19th century biographical encyclopedias and a short biography centered on the role he played during the American Revolutionary war published in 1935, there is no study on him. In spite of this, Baron de Vioménil’s career is a matter of interest, for he participated in the major conflicts the French army took part during the reign of the kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. The baron’s archives, which include abundant correspondence related to his campaigns, are preserved today in the Académie François Bourdon, le Creusot, Burgundy. Being inaccessible for a long time they have not been thoroughly studied, yet. This paper aims at presenting the career of Baron de Viomenil as well as some documents taken from his archives, linked to his participation in the Bar Confederacy operations. Through this endeavour we hope to help cast some new light on a discrete, but efficient French officer who exerted influence on the Polish-Lithuanian history.

The Attempts of the Mazepian Emigration to involve the Crimean Question into the International Policy of French Kingdom in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century

Being at the political and diplomatic service of King of France Louis XV for more than three decades (from 1729 to 1759) Hryhor Orlyk, the son of the Ukrainian Hetman Pylyp Orlyk, was committed to furthering the cause of his father. Traditionally, in the context of the political tasks of the French kingdom, he addressed, on the one hand, the incorporation of the Cossack factor into the foreign policy of the Versailles Cabinet, and, on the other hand, the Crimean question. At every stage of his diplomatic service, which we have distinguished (the 1730s, 1740s, and 1750s respectively), the Hetman’s son set different tasks to resolve the Crimean issue and, accordingly, tried to implement them. Through his consistent, permanent, and persistent actions, Hryhor Orlyk contributed to the traditional matter of Hetman’s Ukraine integration into the international policy of the Versailles Cabinet, along with the Cossack and Crimean factors. In the 1750s, one of the last representatives of the Mazepian emigration Fedir Myrovych and Fedir Nakhymovskyi joined the corps of Orlyk’s son Hryhor. They became his effective assistants in the matter of political and legal recognition of the Cossack factor as one of the dominant foreign policy activities of the Versailles Cabinet by the French political elite. Being in Crimea in the 1750s, Myrovych and Nakhymovskyi acted as special emissaries of the Versailles Cabinet maintaining contacts with it directly through Hryhor Orlyk. They contributed in every way to the policy of the kingdom in Crimea in connection with the activation of the Cossack factor there. Old Mazepa’s supporters assisted the Hetman’s son in the implementation of the military and political cooperation between France and Crimea and the Ottoman Empire, but they also attempted to explain the essence of Russian policy aimed at terminating the independence of the Kosh both to the Khan and to Zaporozhian Cossacks in Crimea. The author concludes that as the envoy of the French Crown in Crimea, Hryhor Orlyk made the last attempt to involve the Crimean Khanate to the problems related to the restoration of the Cossack statehood solving the Crimean-Cossack problem, which had been consistent since the sixteenth century. All Mazepa supporters by conducting their activities in Crimea not only contributed to raising the issue of integrating the Cossack factor as an integral part into the international policy of the Versailles Cabinet, but also helped to legitimize and substantiate the latter in the concept of involving Turkey and the Crimean Khanate into the struggle for Ukraine’s liberation from Russian domination

Имитационная техника джапаннинг в производстве французской мебели эпохи рококо

The paper aims to identify distinctive features of the French Louis XV japanned furniture created in imitation of the Chinese and Japanese lacquerwork. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that for the first time in the domestic art criticism, the author describes Louis XV japanned furniture created in imitation of the Chinese and Japanese lacquerware. The findings allow concluding that the analyzed decorative and applied artworks are examples of the Rococo style.

History, Painting and the Seriousness of Pleasure in the Age of Louis XV. By Susanna Caviglia

<i>History, Painting and the Seriousness of Pleasure in the Age of Louis XV</i>. By <scp>Susanna Caviglia</scp>

Death and the Crown: Ritual and Politics in France before the Revolution

Scholars of royal ritual in France often analyse the development of one type of ceremony—sacre, lit de justice, funeral—over several centuries. In this engaging and well-researched book, Anne Byrne’s approach is to consider specific examples of each as part of a sequence of events from Louis XV’s death in May 1774 to Louis XVI’s sacre in June 1775. Focusing on a short period allows Byrne to root ceremonies in their immediate political contexts. She shows that rituals were not static but ‘vibrant’, both informed by precedent and responsive to contemporary circumstances. The ceremonies that followed Louis XV’s death were all shaped by the fallout from the ‘Maupeou Revolution’ of 1771. Maupeou’s new Parlement was widely regarded as illegitimate, meaning that preparations for the late king’s catafalque ceremony had to be handled carefully. The princes of the blood resented the requirement that they bow to the parlementaires; in the end, the prince de Condé both observed and subverted this by giving minimal bows to the Parlement and pointedly elaborate ones to other bodies. Beneath the supposed archaism, there were always alterations relating to unique circumstances. At the lit de justice of November 1774, in which Louis XVI recalled the old Parlement, the parlementaires were not present at the beginning and subsequently sat without rank until informed of their positions. These were ceremonial innovations highlighting that their return depended on the king’s goodwill. By giving serious consideration to ceremony, Byrne shows that Louis XVI’s reversal of Maupeou’s reforms was not the mistake of a weak king incapable of seeing through a masterstroke of reform, but rather a decision to resolve a divisive issue inherited from the previous reign. Louis XVI’s reputation has often been overshadowed by knowledge of later events, but here at least he is shown using ceremony to resolve political problems with skill and caution.

La Robe à la Française et la Robe l’Odalisque: Wearing women’s clothing in The Rose of Versailles

The androgynous heroine of Ikeda Ryoko’s manga The Rose of Versailles (1972–73), Oscar Françoise de Jarjayes, is usually depicted in masculine, specifically military, attire. The sixth daughter of an important military colonel during the reign of Louis XV and Louis XVI, Oscar is raised as a son and follows her father into the military. Oscar is only ever depicted in one dress, known as the robe l’odalisque – a gown that is adopted at a pivotal moment of character development. It is while wearing this dress, which Ikeda intended to serve as a wedding dress, that Oscar comes to terms with her unrequited love for Marie Antoinette’s lover, Count Axel von Fersen. In doing so, Oscar places more importance on her allegiance to France than to romance. This article investigates the complicated gender and social politics that are symbolized by the choice to wear women’s clothing in The Rose of Versailles.

« Un beau viveur et un délicat vivant ». Le baron de Besenval, courtisan et collectionneur, à travers son iconographie

Le baron Pierre-Joseph-Victor de Besenval de Brünstatt (1721-1791), au zénith de son existence, après s’être vaillamment illustré au combat sous Louis XV au sein du régiment des gardes suisses dont il était le colonel, était devenu, sous les lambris dorés de Versailles, le plus exercé et le plus incontournable des courtisans. Membre assidu de la garde rapprochée de la reine Marie-Antoinette, spirituel et séduisant, il excellait dans les deux arts qui faisaient le sel de la petite société de la reine à Trianon: celui de la conversation et celui de la galanterie. Besenval avait pourtant une passion qui prévalait sur toutes les autres : c’était l’un des plus fins collectionneurs d’art de son temps. Au lendemain de la prise de la Bastille, retentissant événement qu’il ne put empêcher en dépit de son rôle de commandant militaire de la garnison de Paris, il quitta précipitamment la capitale, fut repris, incarcéré, jugé, et miraculeusement libéré. Cet article se propose d’analyser divers portraits-clés de cet aristocrate emblématique de l’Ancien régime et de sa chute, qui désira tirer sa révérence sur un exceptionnel portrait de lui-même en collectionneur. Unique tableau de ce genre dans l’art français du XVIIIe siècle, ce fascinant portrait intime, au coin du feu, conserve pour la postérité l’esprit et le goût dont faisait preuve le baron de Besenval à l’orée de la Révolution.

&lt;em&gt;Portrait of a Lady on Fire&lt;/em&gt;: A “Manifesto about the Female Gaze”

What to make of the arrival of an LGBT period drama from the time of Louis XV into the twenty-first century? Very much, as Veronica Esposito writes in her consideration of this French historical romantic drama.

Location of central asian peoples on guillaume delil maps

This article provides a scientific analysis of the historical maps of Central Asia, depicting the location of the peoples of Central Asia by astronomer, member of the French Academy of Sciences (since 1702), head of the Royal Geographical Society, King Louis XV of France. As a historical source, these maps contain valuable information about the historical and political landscape of Central Asia in the late seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries, the geographical location of peoples, ethnic status, borders, demographic changes in the region, toponyms.

Mechanizmy karier na dworach kobiecych w Wersalu w drugiej połowie XVIII wieku

The career mechanisms at the women’s courts in Versailles in the second half of the 18th century The purpose of the article is to examine the career mechanisms at the royal court in Versailles mainly in the 60s and 70s of the 18th century in reference to the households (maisons) of Queen Marie Leszczyńska (d. 1768) and Dauphine Marie Josephe of Saxony (d. 1767). The structures and sustainability of these households went beyond the usual patterns as a result of accidental circumstances and ad hoc decisions taken by King Louis XV. The accumulation of problems and surprising circumstances forced him to take non-stereotypical actions. Reforms – even the smallest ones – revealed additionally the signs of crisis, which was systematically increasing at the entire court in Versailles. As a result, in the second half of the 18th century, the modernization of the court was also a sign of its serious crisis, and the careers of maisons’ officials were directed by new mechanisms that had previously not existed.

History, Painting, and the Seriousness of Pleasure in the Age of Louis XV by Susanna Caviglia

History, Painting, and the Seriousness of Pleasure in the Age of Louis XV by Susanna Caviglia

Roi de guerre ou Roi de paix? Louis XV and the French monarchy, 1740–1748

Abstract This article examines debate about the nature of the French monarchy during the early years of Louis XV’s personal rule. It argues that the king, his ministers and advisers as well as the wider French public were torn between traditional models of monarchy based upon the concept of a ‘roi de guerre’ and the diplomatic and human consequences of military conflict that had caused many to urge a more restrained, pacific projection of French power. In 1748, Louis XV offered a peace that reflected the desire to avoid a repetition of his predecessor’s errors, but France lacked the strength needed to impose a Pax Francia. The subsequent separation between the Bourbon dynasty and active military service did much to undermine the monarchy in the eyes of an increasingly patriotic public opinion.

The Gallic Singularity and the Royal Mistress

The relationship of the French king and royal mistress, complementary but unequal, embodied the Gallic singularity; the royal mistress exercised a civilizing manner and the soft power of women on the king’s behalf. However, both her contemporaries and nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians were uncomfortable with the mistress’s political power. Furthermore, paradoxical attitudes about French womanhood have led to analyses of her role that are often contradictory. Royal mistresses have simultaneously been celebrated for their civilizing effect in the realm of culture, chided for their frivolous expenditures on clothing and jewelry, and excoriated for their dangerous meddling in politics. Their increasing visibility in the political realm by the eighteenth century led many to blame Louis XV’s mistresses—along with Queen Marie-Antoinette, who exercised a similar influence over her husband, Louis XVI—for the degradation and eventual fall of the monarchy. This article reexamines the historiography of the royal mistress.

Henri Bertin and Louis XV’s Gifts to the Qianlong Emperor

Henri Bertin and Louis XV’s Gifts to the Qianlong EmperorIn 1764, Henri Bertin, a minister of state under Louis XV, provided instruction in French art and manufactures to two Chinese Christians, Aloys Ko and Étienne Yang, so that when they returned they could report on Chinese practices and techniques. Setting sail in 1765, Ko and Yang took a number of gifts—presented to Bertin by the king. The gifts, however, became part of negotiations between imperial officials, the emperor, and the French Jesuits at the Qing court. This episode illuminates the role of diplomatic gifts as political and cultural mediators between two great nations.

ОСНОВНІ ЕТАПИ ДИПЛОМАТИЧНОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ГЕТЬМАНИЧА ГРИГОРА ОРЛИКА З ІНТЕГРАЦІЇ КОЗАЦЬКОГО ЧИННИКА ДО ЗОВНІШНЬОЇ ПОЛІТИКИ ФРАНЦІЇ У 1729–1759 РР.

The article is devoted to the study of the Cossack factor in diplomatic activity of the son of exile hetman of Ukraine Pylyp Orlyk – hetmanych Grygor, in the period from 1729 till 1759 – the timespan of his military, political and diplomatic service in French Kingdom. The basic sources for this article are collected by the author in the materials of Diplomatic archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, as well as in the holdings of the State Library in Berlin and in private archive of Omeljan Pritsak, located in the archive collection of the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”. All these sources have not yet been used in complex and have not become a basis of any scientific research in Ukrainian science on the history of international relations of the eighteenth century. The author is suggesting the periodization of the political activity of hetmanych Grygor Orlyk, and is trying to make a detailed depiction of the general scheme of the integration of the Cossack factor in political life of France in the timeline of Louis XV. The first stage of the three defined by the author lasted from 1730 till 1739. At this initial stage of his political activity the young officer was trying to help his father to activate the Cossack question in Poland, Turkey, Crimea and Sweden and to favour the creation of the anti-Russian coalition of European states, headed by France. The timespan of the second stage includes 1742 to 1749. Here the Cossack hetmanych and simultaneously the general of French army Grygor Orlyk created several very important memorandums which influenced the decision of Versailles to start the policy of constructive implementation of the Cossack factor in relations with the countries of Eastern Europe. The third and final stage of the political and diplomatic activity of hetmanych lasted from 1753 till 1756. At this stage, the efforts of Grygor Orlyk were aimed to liberate the Cossacks from the Russian oppression and to support his companions-in-arms F. Myrovich and F. Nachymovski to adjust military and political cooperation of France with Crimea and Turkey. G.&nbsp;Orlyk’s main ideas about Ukrainian question, Ukrainian-Polish and Ukrainian-Russian relations were directed in order to integrate the Cossack question into the whole structure of French eastern foreign policy on Swedish, Polish, Turkish, Crimean and Russian directions.