#Adrienne Ségur

[lepetitdragonvert]

LA ROSE DE NOËL

1966

Éditions Flammarion

Artist : Adrienne Ségur

La légende de la rose de noël

[nordleuchten]

Hello! I hope you’re having a wonderful day.

I was wondering if you had any idea on where to look for informations about the Noailles family.

The only sources I could find was Adriennes biography, and Anything that had to do with Lafayette. So wondered if you knew of any other materials I could take a look at. (Maybe about Adrienne’s sisters, parents, or cosines, other relatives etc.)

Dear Anon,

I have to make a confession – the Noailles-family never has captured my interest quite *that* much and therefor my answer may be a bit limited. Then again, there has been a lot less published about the Noailles-family then about the La Fayette-family.

You mentioned that you had a look at biographies about Adrienne – I do not know which ones you consulted; maybe you already know some of the ones I am going to suggest.

La Vie de Madame de Lafayette is a book that Adrienne and her youngest daughter Virginie co-authored. Adrienne wrote the first half of the book about her mother, de Duchess d’Ayen, and Virginie wrote the second half about Adrienne and then went on to publish the book after her mother’s death. While La Fayette is mentioned in both parts, he is only a minor character in this book.

Anne-Paule-Dominique de Noailles, Marquis de Montague (the title varies sometimes a little depending on the edition and/or the translation) are the Memoirs of Adrienne’s second youngest sister. Anne survived both her sister Adrienne as well as her brother-in-law La Fayette and died in 1839. The book gives great insight into her life.

Madame de Lafayette and her family by Mary McDermont Crawford is an old book that deals in large part with the La Fayette-part of the family – but the Noailles-part is represented as well, even some of the more “minor” members of the family.

I also would suggest the Memoirs of the Comte de Ségur. Now, I do not use his Memoirs as often as I could, but since Ségur was a family friend both to the La Fayette’s as well as to the Noailles’ I believe that there should be something in his Memoirs.

I know that the Archive in Geneva has a few letters from and to the Duc d’Ayen and his second wife, Adrienne’s step-mother, but these letters are hard to access online.

Now, if you are really interested and do not mind a bit of digging, I can recommend the letters of La Fayette (especially the earlier letter that we have) and of John Adams (when he was ambassador in France). Both had a lot of contact with the Noailles and either wrote to members of the Noailles-family directly or mentioned incidents of the family live as well as, in Adams case, commenting on the family members and their behavior/opinions/etc.

It is not much but I hope that you can use this at least as a starting point. I hope you have/had a wonderful day!

[themidcenturyscene]

"Os Desastres de Sofia," cover, 1946

"Les Malheurs de Sophie," written by the Countess Adrienne Ségur. Portuguese edition Casa do Livro Editora, Lisbon. Oficina Artistas Unidos, Porto.

[nobility-art]

Empress Eugenie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting

Artist: Franz Xaver Winterhalter (German, 1805-1873)

Date: 1855

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Château de Compiègne, Compiègne

Description:

The painting features depictions of the Empress of France, Eugénie de Montijo, and eight of her ladies-in-waiting. The painting was displayed at the Palace of Fontainebleau during the regime of Eugénie's husband, Napoleon III. After Eugénie's exile to England, the painting was given to her, and later displayed in the entrance to her house at Farnborough Hill. It is currently on display at the Château de Compiègne.

The scene, bathed in a cold, bright light, depicts Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of the French for two years, surrounded by eight ladies-in-waiting in a fictional country setting. She is represented with a crown of honeysuckle on her head and a branch of the same plant in her hand, acting as a scepter. She slightly dominates the other characters. She is facing the Grand Mistress of her household, on her right, Anne Debelle, Princess of Essling (1802-1887), wife of François Victor Massena, 3rd Duke of Rivoli. To her left stands her lady-in-waiting, Pauline van der Linden d'Hooghvorst, Duchess of Bassano (1814-1867), wife of Napoléon Maret. Below are the ladies of the palace, who followed the empress daily: on the left, Jane Thorne, baroness of Pierres (1821-1873), wife of Stéphane de Pierres and Louise Poitelon du Tarde, viscountess of Lezay-Marnésia (1826-1891), wife of Joseph-Antoine-Albert de Lezay-Marnesia; in the center, Adrienne de Villeneuve-Bargemont, countess of Montebello (1826-1870), wife of Gustave Olivier Lannes de Montebello, and on the right, Anne Eve Mortier de Trévise, marquise of Latour-Maubourg (1829-1900), wife of César de Faÿ de La Tour-Maubourg, Claire Emilie MacDonnel, Marquise de Las Marismas de Guadalquivir (1817-1905), wife of Alexandre Aguado Moreno, and behind them, standing, Nathalie de Ségur, Baroness of Malaret (1827-1910), wife of Paul Martin d'Ayguesvives, and daughter of the Countess of Ségur).

[evelyngarciatirado-blog]

DuDu Home & Deco, una marca de cuentos de hadas

DuDu Home Cerámica y Textiles es una marca del artista y diseñador Eduardo Masías Vizcarra, que nos trae varias propuestas llenas de color y frescura para adornar nuestro hogar de una manera divertida y adorable. Eduardo recurre a las figuras de los cuentos de hadas, imprimiéndoles un sello personal que las hace únicas. Es así que los fans de relatos como “Caperucita Roja”, “Rapunzel, “Cenicienta”, “Cascanueces”, “Blancanieves”,  “Hansel y Gretel”, y, sobre todo, “Alicia en el País de las Maravillas”, encontrarán un pequeño paraíso de enseres como teteras, azucareras, tazas, manteles, floreros, vasos, cojines, etc., decorados con sus personajes favoritos, donde el toque del artista los hace aún más entrañables, debido al enorme talento que hay en juego. Se nota un estudio exhaustivo de la naturaleza para diseñar las plantas, setas, animales y flores que acompañan a los elementos centrales y los tonos que se usan son muy atractivos a la vista. Utiliza colores ligados a la tierra y colores fríos y pasteles, tonos delicados que se quedan en la retina y en el corazón. Los trabajos de Eduardo parecen estar inspirados en los artistas europeos de fines del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX (en una onda vintage) o en la ilustradora francesa Adrienne Ségur, por las formas que usa y por la calidez y delicadeza que proyectan. Es arte que hace las delicias de los más pequeños en casa y también de adultos con alma de niño que aman lo lúdico y lo original, pues es una verdad tan grande como un obelisco que los humanos cobramos fuerzas y ánimo en el día a día si es que en nuestro hogar contamos con objetos hermosos que iluminen las habitaciones y nos arranquen una sonrisa. Es el caso del bello calendario “Alicia 2024”, donde cada mes supone una aventura de la mano del tímido Conejo Blanco, el susceptible y miedoso Ratón, el Sombrerero Loco (y su mesa infinita llena de exquisitas golosinas), la impaciente y refinada Liebre de Marzo, la Reina de Corazones y su séquito de cartas, la Oruga sabia y gruñona, y, cómo no, el misterioso Gato de Cheshire, cuya sonrisa se difumina en el aire. Los preciosos colores y los minúsculos detalles son los que le confieren una magia especial a este calendario y a todos los artículos que salen de las manos de Eduardo. Demás está decir que sus colecciones tienen una edición limitada y que el artista utiliza indistintamente el papel, las telas, el vidrio, la cerámica, etc. Si desean encontrarlo en las redes, pueden acudir a su Instagram: @duduhomedeco , a su cuenta de Facebook: DuDu Home & Deco o a su WhatsApp: 983 475 892.

Por: Evelyn García Tirado

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Adrienne Ségur (source Emilflore Flickr)

[rumforall]

The Fairy Tale Book

Hardcover

1958

Artist : Adrienne Ségur

[faerie-bear]

L’enfant et les sortilèges

[lovehael]

Adrienne Ségur illustration for Beauty and the Beast

[marq-de-laf]

are there any anecdotes about angry lafayette?

I’m away from my books at the moment due to a COVID related incident (precautionary only) so take this with a grain of salt. BUT from what I remember, there was a time when Lafayette was very young--prior to going to America young--where he heard through the grapevine that his friend, the Comte de Ségur, had won the affections of a lady he’d fallen in love with.  Ségur had no idea. Instead of checking his sources, Lafayette literally got up in the middle of the night, took a sword, busted into his pal’s room, and challenged him to a duel. According to the Comte, it took nearly all night to talk Lafayette down from the fight and restore their friendship. But Gilbert came in HOT. The story is pretty hilarious, but is unfortunately marred by the fact that, if I’m not mistaken, he was a newly wed at the time. 

That’s what happens when you’re a punk kid and only one of you married for love. If you’re interested in learning more about the complicated, fascinating relationship between Lafayette and his lovely wife Adrienne, search her name on my blog.

[lepetitdragonvert]

The Blue Bird / L’oiseau bleu

1951

Artist : Adrienne Ségur

[nordleuchten]

I finished watching Franklin the other day and I had to comment on the portrayal of La Fayette throughout the series – while there were some things that I disliked, the show did a really good job portraying La Fayette. I have a lot of notes and screenshots because the show actually included a great number of sweet details. Therefore, I hope you are interested, because we are going into detail.

Franklin – Episode 1

There are two important things happening in this episode with regards to La Fayette: La Fayette’s first meeting with William Temple Franklin and their visit to the club.

The show naturally puts the two Franklins at the center of all the action and this is – with regards to La Fayette, one of the “problems” it suffers from. La Fayette’s departure for America and the whole politics behind it are oversimplified, the show omits his visit to his uncle-in-law in England and its also omits Silas Dean. Dean played a very important role in getting La Fayette to America – arguably more important than Franklin’s role and definitely more important than Temple’s role. La Fayette and Temple knew each other, they exchanged letters and these letters were polite and friendly, but there are none of these overenthusiastic declarations of love that we see in letters to his family, to Adrienne, to Washington or Hamilton for example. In fact, the first letter I could find between the two of them was written by La Fayette on September 14, 1779 – so long after La Fayette’s initial departure. As I already said, the letter is friendly, but not overly so. There might be other letters, that did not survive and many things could have happened, that can not be represented by letters and what is written in them – but I nevertheless think it is safe to assume that the show depicts a deeper friendship between them then there actually was.

With that out of the way, we meet La Fayette for the first time in de Vergenne’s anteroom where Temple is also currently waiting for an audience. When I was watching the show, especially in later episodes, I am not quite sure if it was made clear, that de Vergennes and La Fayette actually had a very warm relationship. Sure, de Vergennes sometimes needed to reign La Fayette in a bit but they were still very affectionate with each other. I saw their interaction in the show always as a mentor-son-thing or some friendly banter but I am not quite sure if you got the same impression when you have not read their letters for example.

Anyway, the real star of this scene was La Fayette’s uniform. This set probably won me over to watch Franklin – because the show actually managed to put La Fayette in the right uniform at the right time!

Here he is wearing the uniform of a Captain from the Noailles regiment. He joined the regiment in 1775 and his commission was a “wedding-gift” from his father-in-law who owned said regiment (although La Fayette had to wait until he turned eighteen to actually be commissioned a Captain). La Fayette wore this uniform in a painting by Louis-Léopold Boilly – although the painting was only done in 1788.

And of course, there was no way the show could do without a scene about La Fayette’s many first names.

I was baptized like a Spaniard. (…) But it was not my fault. And without pretending to deny myself the protection of Marie, Pauls, Joseph, Roch and Yves, I more often called upon Saint Gilbert.

Then we have this absolutely delicious scene of La Fayette dressing Temple up – something very much on brand. @my-deer-friend and I once had a conversation about La Fayette doing something along these lines with John Laurens as well if I am not mistaken.

Next we are taken to a club where La Fayette introduces Temple to his friend Ségur and de Noailles – I really liked it that they were included as well:

And in the course of the conversation there were many interesting aspects raised. For example, there is a reference to La Fayette’s “country-origins”, something that was perceived by his peers back then as way more significant, to the point where he was ridiculed for it, then we today might believe it to be. There was also a spotlight shown on La Fayette’s pursuit for glory and fame, a strong factor in the crafting in his public image and something that was very important for him. I made a post about this here.

We also have La Fayette express his distaste for the British and relay the story about his father’s death. And while I appreciate the background information and motivation, I think that “We hate British” is a bit of an oversimplification – as I said, La Fayette had recently visited his uncle by marriage in England, he was the French ambassador to the British court, and by his own accounts, La Fayette had a blast of a time while in England. I also would like to one day look a bit deeper into the connection La Fayette felt towards his father and his passing, because I believe that he might not have felt quite so strong about the matter.

Lastly, La Fayette comments about his distaste for court rituals. While this was his general opinion, there was one especially notable incident were he purposefully insulted the future Louis XVIII, younger brother of Louis XVI, in order to avoid an appointment to the royal household. I wrote about his little stunt here. He also mentioned that the King at the time, Louis XVI, had forbidden him to sail to America. The logical conclusion: La Fayette bought his own ship.

[themidcenturyscene]

"Comédias e Provérbios," cover, 1946

Written by the Countess Adrienne Ségur. Portuguese edition Casa do Livro Editora, Lisbon. Oficina Artistas Unidos, Porto.

[anton-wyzek]

Empress Eugenie surrounded by her ladies in waiting, painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter and completed in 1855.

Anne d'Essling (1802-1887) served as Grand-Maitresse for Empress Eugenie from 1853-1870.

Next to the Empress Eugenie is her dame d'honneur, Pauline de Bassano. Born in 1814, she served this position from 1853 to her death in 1867.

Jane Thorne(in white dress with blue ribbon) was born in New York in 1821 to American millionaire Herman Thorne and Jane Mary Jauncey. She kept her position to Empress Eugenie from 1853 to 1870. Her husband, Eugène Stéphane de Pierres was the equerry to the Empress, he kept his position for the same amount of time as his wife.

Louise Poitelon du Tarde(next to Jane Thorne)was the daughter of Louis Gabriel Poitelon du Tarde and Louise Anne Vétillart du Ribert. Born in 1826, she became Dame du Palais for Empress Eugenie after the Empress' marriage to Napoleon the third. By 1864 she was declared an invalid and was requested to leave her position, but remained an honorary lady in waiting.

Anne Mortier de Trévise(in purple) was born in 1829 to Napoléon Mortier, II. duc de Trévise and Anne-Marie Lecomte-Stuart. Anne was often the traveling companion to Empress Eugenie. Her parents died before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, followed by her son, who died in battle and her daughter who died in childbirth. Her husband suffered a deep depression due to this and Anne devoted herself to nursing him.

Claire Emilie MacDonnel(in white, with roses on her dress)was the daughter of Hugh MacDonnel and Ida Louise Ulrich. She married marquis de Las Marismas de Guadalquivir, in 1841. After his death in a mental asylum, she married her brother in law Onésipe Aguado, vicomte Aguado, in 1863. After the fall of the Empire, she retired from high society life as her loyalty to the Empress Eugenie made her feel disloyal if she were to participate in society life under the new administration.

Nathalie de Ségur(in yellow) was born in 1827, she accompanied her husband on his diplomatic missions as he was the minister to Florence and because of this never attended court very often.

Adrienne de Villeneuve-Bargemont was born in 1826, she was the daughter of Alban Jean-Paul de Villeneuve-Bargemont and Emma de Carbonnel de Canisy. Her son often joined her in court at the request of the Empress, the boy composed poems for Eugenie and read them to her. The Empress was particularly attached to Adrienne and mourned her deeply when Adrienne died on June 7th 1870 after an illness that had affected her for several years.

[fragolette]

Art by Adrienne Ségur, a great french fairytale illustrator. I love her style !

[geritsel]

Adrienne Ségur - a mixed bag of children’s- and fairy tale book illustrations