Historical and Commemorative
Medals
Collection of Benjamin Weiss
EXECUTION OF MARIE ANTOINETTE KüCHLER, Conrad Heinrich: France, 1793, Bronze, 48 mm Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), an Austrian princess, was
never popular with the French public. (She was once to have exclaimed 'If I
was not Queen, one would say that I had an insolent air'). She was often
accused of putting Austrian interests ahead of those of her husband's
kingdom. Her unpopularity was increased by her extravagant spending, which
was often unfairly connected with the grave financial difficulties that
beset France in the 1780s. This uncertain position put her in danger in the
revolutionary period. This was not helped by her uncompromising stance to
even the more moderate revolutionaries and her attempts at collusion with
other European powers to try to suppress the insurgents. After the royal
family failed to escape in 1791, and monarchy was abolished in 1792, Louis
XVI was tried for treason and executed in January 1793. The former queen was
tried by the National Assembly and executed on 16 October 1793. LINK to Portrait of Marie Antoinette by Marie Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun (from Wikipedia) LINK to Blog on Marie Antoinette Versailles and More LINK to other medals by Kuchler from this series (Bill McKivor)
|
|