Tag Archives: Jean-Baptiste Lully

fatal showplace

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Dave

To give a great party is a dangerous thing. A few famous balls have been enshrined in history and golden legend-none more so than the Duchess of Richmond’s in Brussels on the eve of Waterloo, remembered in the celebrated lines … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged Alexandre Dumas, Jean de la Fontaine, Jean-Baptiste Lully, King Louis XIV, La Fontaine poet, Madame Pickwick, madame pickwick art blog, Moliere, Nicolas Fouquet, Nicolas Poussin, Vatel French chef, Vaux-le-Vicomte | Leave a comment

hazards of the classics

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Dave

Even though holocausts, hatreds, and forgetfulness have obliterated vast treasures of past cultures, occasional good luck, later circumspection, and modern recovery have helped rescue a priceless part of our written legacy from oblivion. An eloquent instance of the chances and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History/Antiquity/Anthropology, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged Apeleius Golden Ass, Armadillo Systems, Bishop Eadfrith, British Library, Cupid and Psyche, Didymus Alexandrinus, Didymus Alexandrinus De Spiritu Sancto, Dr Michelle Brown, Jacques-Louis David, Jean de la Fontaine, Jean-Baptiste Lully, King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, Kish Tablet, Lindisfarne Gospels, Madame Pickwick, madame pickwick art blog, Moliere Psyche, Pierpont Morgan Library | Leave a comment

gardens of magnificence

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Dave

We have no idea what the Garden of Eden resembled. Painters have generally rendered it as a flowering green background to highlight Eve’s white nakedness. What we do know is that humanity from the start has delighted in gardens. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History/Antiquity/Anthropology, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Madame Pickwick Weekend | Tagged Andre Le Notre, francis bacon on gardens, Francois Boucher, Jean Antoine Watteau, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis XIV, Louis XIV Sun King, Moliere, Nicolas Poussin, renaissance gardens, Sir Francis Bacon, thomas traherne | Leave a comment

sun king soap opera in the gilded cage

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Dave

By elevating the monarchy, Louis XIV hoped not only to increase its power but also to breed respect and awe, so that opposition to the royal will would savor of sacrilege, and be inhibited. To achieve this end, Louis XIV … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History/Antiquity/Anthropology, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word, Miscellaneous | Tagged Duc de Saint-Simon, Francoise Marquise de Maintenon, Hyancinthe Rigaud, Jean Baptiste Racine, Jean Racine, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orleans, Louis XIV Sun King, Marie-Adelaide Duchesse de Bourgogne, Moliere, Prince d'Orleans, Rigaud Louis XIV, Voltaire | Leave a comment

ROYAL FLUSH & BLUSH WITH THE SUN KING: idiot bastard sons?

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Dave

It was the world of Saint-Simon. In his insultingly tiny Versailles room a noble diarist recorded life in the court of the Sun King. Prudery, malice, and consideration of status filled his pages and produced a masterpiece that recorded the … Continue reading →