Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Dauphine of France, was born on the 6th day of December, 1685. 1685 was, of course, a big year for the 17th century, and this Seventeenth Century Lady’s birth is often overlooked. She had a short life, sadly, for she died only 26 years later. I’ve been quite intrigued by this young lady, who… Read on
Good day and welcome to today’s exquisite guest post from fashion historian Katy Werlin! I know Katy from Twitter and was delighted when she agreed to participate in this month’s guest posts. You’ll love it. Please welcome Katy to The Seventeenth Century Lady! Ballet at the Court of Louis XIV Ballet in the seventeenth century was completely different… Read on
My article, “The Allure of the Royal Mistress” is now available on The Huffington Post. Below, I have images of the women I mention in the article: 1) Aspasia, mistress of Pericles: 2) Queen Cleopatra of Egypt: 3) Diane de Poitiers: 4) Anne Boleyn: 5) Nell Gwynn: 6) Barbara Palmer (Villiers): 7) Madame de Montespan: 8) Madame de… Read on
Today, the 14th of May, was an extremely important day for 17th-century France. King Henri IV, previously known as the King of Navarre, was assassinated by a Catholic, on this day in 1610. In his youth, Henri was one of the most important Huguenot (French Calvinist Protestant) leaders besides figures such as Admiral Coligny. The year was 1572… Read on
Famous female Baroque composers are so rare that this post is of particular importance. Élisabeth Jacquet, French musical prodigy who sang, played harpsichord, organ, and composed beautiful pieces of Baroque, was born on the 17th of March, 1665, in Paris, France, to a musical family. You probably haven’t heard about Élisabeth, but she was such an extraordinary individual,… Read on
Today marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of French Baroque landscape architect, André Le Nôtre! He was born on the 12th of March, 1613, in Paris. Le Nôtre’s garden designs can be seen at the Baroque Chateau de Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte. What is so special about le Notre? Well, he worked for King Louis XIV, the Sun King, and French Baroque… Read on
If you love periwigs as much as I do, you’ll love this film. Periwigs galore! Set during the late Seventeenth century, The King’s Whore (1990) also known as La putain du roi, or La puttana del re, is based on the true story of French-born Jeanne Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes, Countess of Verua who became the mistress of Vittorio Amedeo… Read on
Simon Vouet, French painter who helped usher in the elaborate Italian Baroque style of painting into France, was born on this day the 9th of January, 1590. King Louis XIII’s wife (and King Louis XIV’s mother) Anne of Austria posed for Vouet in this next painting, where she is depicted as Minerva: As you can see, Vouet… Read on