Marie-Antoinette, how does she look like?

Here are a few descriptions of the Queen of France by some contemporaries. Most of these are from their memoirs...Please, forgive my English :)

"Many people only met Marie-Antoinette in 1789, that is to say at the time when crushing issues had started to veil the most beautiful face that you can imagine; but it was when she arrived in France that you had to see her. Imagine a complexion with a dazzling whiteness, where colours as fresh as the spring rose mix together; big azure-blue eyes that were noticeable right away*, a forehead that a forest of blond hair crowned, where majesty united itself with candour, and which gave to her physiognomy the most noble expression, to which her nose's shape added even further. The only flaw of this lovable princess' face was that her lower lip was a bit too prominent. Nonetheless this was a distinctive feature of the house of Austria, which reminded people of the fact she was Marie-Therese's daughter. Elevated enough for her age, her height was well-taken**, her neck, her breast perfect; her hand charming, her foot and her leg as beautiful as the Medicis' Venus. She had a grace, a facility in her gestures, and most significantly a harmony in all her person which delighted people; as a result you could not see her without adoring her, because she did not meet anyone who she did not want to please."

Rose Bertin in her Mémoires de Mademoiselle Rose Bertin

sur la Reine Marie-Antoinette.

* In French, she says: "à fleur de tête" when she speaks about the queen's eyes, which means big eyes; that is a very distinctive feature of someone's face.

** I'm not sure, to be honest if she speaks about her height (most people agree that MA was tall enough when she reached her maturity, and even taller than most women at her court) or her size (MA's waist was 59 cm after her pregnancies thanks to corset and a sober diet). 

"Marie-Antoinette was tall, admirably well-made, without being exceedingly fat. Her arms were superb, her hands small, perfect in shape and her feet lovely. She was the woman of France who walked the best; carrying her head very high with a majesty which allowed people to recognize the queen. Her features were not regular: she inherited from her family this long and narrow oval face so typical of the Austrian nation . She did not have big eyes; their colour was almost blue; her gaze was spiritual and soft, and her lips not too big though they were a bit strong. But the most remarkable sign of her face was the radiance of her skin. I have never seen such bright skin before, and "bright" is the right word; because her skin was so transparent/clear that it did not take any shadow...I did not have enough colours to paint this freshness, these tones so refined which only belonged to this charming face and that I have not found in any other woman since then."

Mme Vigée-Lebrun (her favourite portraitist).

"Many times I have heard people talk about the beauty of this princess, and I admit I have never really shared this opinion. But she had what is worthier on the throne than perfect beauty: the face of a queen of France, even in the moments when she intended the most to appear only as a pretty woman. Her eyes were not beautiful but they reflected every expression: benevolence or aversion painted themselves in this gaze more singularly than in any other I have encountered. I am not sure her nose belonged to her face. Her lips were decidedly unpleasant; that thick lip, advanced and sometimes drooping, has been mentioned as giving to her physiognomy a noble and distinctive quality; it only expressed anger and indignation, and it is not there the usual expression of beauty. Her skin was admirable, so were her shoulders and her neck. I have not seen such beautiful arms and hands again. She walked in either of these two ways: the first one was firm, a little bit hurried and always noble; the other one softer and more relaxed, I would say nearly caressing, but still reminded people of the respect they owned her. People had never bowed with such grace as she did, greeting ten people with one bow and giving to everyone what they were due, with her head and her gaze...To put everything in a nutshell, if I am not mistaken: when you offer a chair to other women, you would nearly always have wanted to present her a throne."

                                                                                                                       Comte Alexandre de Tilly

" This unhappy princess still kept some small jealousies of women. She had a very beautiful complexion and a lot of radiance, and was a bit jealous of these young women's skin who brought in the broad daylight their youthful complexion,  more dazzling than hers. Mine was among them." (year: 1787, when MA was 32).         

Marquise de la Tour de Pin. 

"Madame la Dauphine was, at that time, tall and well-made, though a little bit skinny. She has barely changed then; she always has this same long and regular face, that aquiline nose which was nonetheless a bit pointed at the tip, this high forehead, these lively blue eyes. Her mouth, already small, seemed a little bit disdainful. She had the Austrian lip more pronounced than any other people of her illustrious family. Nothing can give you an idea of the radiance of her complexion, literally mixed with lilies and roses. Her ash blond hair had a thin cover of powder only. The way she carries herself, the majesty of her height, the elegance of all her person, were what they are today. At last everything in her transpired the grandeur of her race, the softness and the nobility of her soul: she attracted people's hearts." (or love)

Baronne d'Oberkirsch.

The Main Actors in Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI's marriage

 Empress Maria-Theresa

She had always dreamt of a prestigious alliance with the French kingdom, and settling in the most famous kingdoms in Europe one of her daughters. Little did she know how unfortunate her daughter's fate would become in the end. In her letters, she poured many advices on her last daughter in order to secure her place in the French court, notorious for being one of the cruelest. But because of some of her demands, she put Marie-Antoinette in danger. The French opinion thought that MA was still Austrian at heart and was ready to betray her new country while serving the Austrian interests. 

 King Louis XV. Louis XVI's grand-father. He had long hesitated before agreeing to the marriage between his grandson Louis-Auguste, born in August 1754, and the young archduchess. Nonetheless, this alliance was, in his eyes, probably a mean to get some revenge against the UK. Indeed, the French lost the 7-year War against England, and a marriage, a cooperation between France and Austria could be a solution against the English supremacy.
Louis XV was famous for being handsome, though quite shy. He was extremely loyal to his wife, the queen, with whom he had had numerous children. When she decided to stop having sexual relationships with him (because constant pregnancies started to wear her out), he began to have mistresses. The most famous ones are the Marquess of Pompadour, and Countess du Barry. The latter was Marie-Antoinette's biggest rival when she arrived in France, but this rivalry was in fact, only in MA's mind. 

 Ambassador Mercy-Argenteau. Marie-Antoinette grew very attached to him; she considered him as a second father. But he wasn't as sentimental as her, to be honest. Today, many historians think he was a bit of a bad genius towards Marie-Antoinette. He secretly furnished the empress with many details about her daughter's new life, giving to MA the impression that she was completely and relentlessly spied on;  indeed her mother knew everything about her way of living. Moreover, he thought Louis-Auguste, future Louis XVI, was a stupid, naive young man that could be easily manipulated.

 Chancelier Kaunitz

Minister Choiseul. He was rather a good politician but alienated Louis XV because of his "war" with Mme du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. The marriage between MA and Louis XVI was also one of his ideas, and Marie-Antoinette felt extremely grateful towards him. Unfortunately for him, after Louis XV's death, he never recovered from his feud with Countess du Barry, and Louis XVI never took him back as a minister, trying to erase everything that may remind him of his grandfather's failures to only keep what seemed good to him and for the kingdom.

New book

I bought this, today, for only 3 euros instead of 9,90. Guess I am lucky.
It's going to be more readings for me :)

Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette, la fin d'un monde

by Max Gallo 

Max Gallo is known for writing about biographies. That is thanks to that man that I know more about Louis XIV since, for the moment, I'm much more interested in the 18th and 19th centuries than the 17th. 

Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI-Related

Genealogy

Related.

When people say that all royals are blood related, well, I'm more than ready to agree. There were already a few gossips on the net on how Kate and William had some ancestors in common

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1299794/How-Prince-William-Kate-Middleton-related-thanks-Tudor-tyrant.html ).

Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI were not exceptions to this fact as well:

their common ancestors lineage starts with Philippe, Duke of Orléans, brother of king Louis XIV (great-great-great grand-father of Louis XVI). Indeed, Monsieur (as Philippe was called ) is no less than Marie-Antoinette's father's grand-father. With his second wife, Princess Palatine, Philippe “created” a second branch in his family when he gave his daughter to marry a member of the Lorraine family.

Louis XIV's brother's blood then also ran into Louis XVI's veins. He was his great-great-great-grand-father by the marriage between Marie-Adélaide de Savoie (Philippe's grand-daughter) and Louis de France (Louis XIV's grand-son and heir). 

So according to some genealogy rules, Marie-Antoinette is Louis XV's cousin on the same degree (not same generation, obviously).

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were second cousins twice removed, and Marie-Antoinette was Louis XIV's great-grand niece.

Nevertheless, despite frequent marriages between first cousins or with other familial links, at least in their direct genealogy, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were rather in good health, great shape and said to be both handsome people (an English woman once said she was disappointed by Louis-Auguste during his wedding day, because she thought he was going to be horrible. He wasn't.).

Unfortunately, Louis XIV's cousin Charles II of Spain didn't have the same luck; he was the heir of a lineage full of inbreedings (his mother and father being niece and uncle for example) which probably explains his very awful health. And he was also heavily prognathous. He married Philippe's first daughter Marie-Louise whom he fell deeply in love with. Unfortunately for the couple, they didn't succeed in having children, which caused great distress for both of them. 

(Pictures found on the Net).

By Nana 

If there are some mistakes I apologize and will try to correct them.

Marie Antoinette's Birth

Marie Antoinette of Habsbourg-Lorraine was born on 2^nd, November 1755 to Austrian Empress Maria-Theresa and her husband, Consort Emperor Francis I of Lorraine. She's the little sister of many big brothers and sisters (more than 10) already: indeed, the marriage between her parents was a marriage of love, and Empress Maria-Theresa saw her generous offspring as incredible political tools. Why so? Because it is a way to furnish many potential wives to other European crowns and assure her power and strength outside her own empire. That way, her children assured the extension of her influence.

 (Marie Antoinette is the smallest one, in the craddle)

However, this “hunger” for control and power will lead the poor Marie Antoinette-future French queen- to an inexorable tragic destiny.

Since her birth, the little archduchess with big blue eyes (“à fleur de tête”) had seemed to be overshadowed by pessimistic signs.

2^nd, November: two days after All Souls' Day.

The day before her birth: a terrible earthquake ravaged Lisbon, capitol of Portugal, and its queen and king became Marie Antoinette's godmother and godfather.

What's more, her education was highly neglected, throughout her childhood and even a few years before her marriage to Dauphin Louis-Auguste! At 12 years-old, MA could barely read and write!

This neglect can be seen, today, as one of Marie Antoinette's downfall causes (I'll be back about it later). She never learnt to concentrate, neither making an effort.

Her mother grew superstitious some time before her last daughter go to France. Some medium/fortune-teller or religious man (can't really remember) said: “there's a cross for everybody” when the Empress asked him about her daughter's future in France.

(Marie Antoinette as a baby. Her features are already quite noticeable: big blue eyes, strong nose)

Nevertheless, when the healthy baby girl was born, all those dark thoughts were not hovering over the family yet. Indeed, the people respected Marie-Theresa, her relationship was to her husband excellent (even though he often cheated on her) and her numerous children assured her power.

Similarly to her most of her siblings, Marie-Antoinette would serve a political goal, in order to maintain her mother's (and Austria's) influence.