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Article: Marie Antoinette's dairy at Rambouillet.
- Article from:
- The Magazine Antiques
- Article date:
- October 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Laiterie de la reine (queen dairy; Pl. I) was a surprise gift to the French queen Marie Antoinette from her husband Louis XVI in June 1786. Today it stands half-forgotten in the woods behind the Chateau de Rambouillet, in Rambouillet, denuded of its furnishings, its elegant porcelains, and most of its sculptures.
The dairy was created for a queen who lost her head to the guillotine before having had a chance to use it. It was the apogee of the laiterie d'agrement (the pleasure dairy) and is one of the few examples that survive today. In creating it, the leading neoclassical artists and designers of France melded the monumentality and mythology of ancient ...