Marie Antoinette had no luck. When fireworks were lit in Paris to celebrate the Austrian princess’s marriage to the dauphin of France, a conflagration ensued, the crowd stampeded and more than 130 people were killed – although rumour put the number much higher. From the start, it seemed she was destined to be hated by the French people and blamed for sufferings she didn’t even know existed.
By the time the French Revolution had begun in 1789, Antoinette was demonised not only as a lavish spender but a rampant sex addict who cuckolded the king. Illustrations from 1790s pornographic booklets in the V&A’s epic show graphically depict her making love to a guard and to one of her ladies in waiting. By the time you get to these libellous prints, you can’t help feeling their bullying nastiness. For you have got to know her. This show is a superb lesson in how history can be understood through images and objects. It brings you as close as it’s possible to get to the real Marie Antoinette.
