#decor de fête

[chocolatespacemuffins]

Front Yard - Farmhouse Porch

An example of a mid-sized cottage wood railing porch design with decking and a roof extension.

[sol-domino]

Montreal Porch Front Yard Inspiration for a mid-sized country wood railing porch remodel with decking and a roof extension

[chicinsilk]

US Vogue September 15, 1956

Anne St. Marie in a large festive dress in brown silk marquisette, decorated with a small matching vine vest edged with sable. From Sophie's made-to-order collection at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Anne St. Marie dans une grande robe de fête en marquisette de soie brune, agrémentée d'un petit gilet assorti en vignogne bordé de martre. De la collection sur commande de Sophie chez Saks Fifth Avenue.

Photo Frances McLaughlin vogue archive

[chic-a-gigot]

L'Art et la mode, no. 34, vol. 26, 26 août 1905, Paris. Une Fête Champêtre. — Dessin de Lucy. Bibliothèque nationale de France

Robe de toile blanche ajourée. Ceinture de satin rose à longs pans.

Openwork white canvas dress. Long-tailed pink satin belt.

—

Robe de toile rose découpée en pattes sur une large bande d'Irlande. Blouse garnie de bandes d'Irlande croisées et boutonnée des pattes de taffetas "bois".

Pink canvas dress cut into tabs on a wide Irish strip. Blouse trimmed with crossed Irish strips and buttoned with "wood" taffeta tabs.

—

Robe de toile bleue découpée et ornée de boutons et de boutonnières de tresse blanche. Guimpe de linon brodé et ajouré.

Blue canvas dress cut out and decorated with buttons and white braid buttonholes. Embroidered and openwork linen guimpe.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The Fool and the Demon, leaf from a Psalter by the Maître de Jean de Mandeville (France, c 1360), fol. 284

The legend reads: "dixit insipiens in corde suo non est deus" ("the fool says in his heart 'There is no God.'") (Psalm 52) In a miniature prefacing Psalm 52, the illuminator represents the poem's imagery literally. The "fool" of the text appears here as the lunatic figure familiar during the Middle Ages: shoeless, wearing rags, and carrying a club. He holds an unidentifiable object, perhaps a stone, to his mouth; from this he can draw no nourishment, a visual analogy to the denial of God's existence. In the medieval period, lunacy was seen as a punishment inflicted by the devil. In the upper right corner of the miniature, a small demon crouches before the swirling gold decorative patterns, either the cause of the fool's lunacy or, perhaps, the agent inspiring the fool's denial.

J Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California. Ms. 1, v1 (84.MA.40.1) The fools adorn Psalters, Books of Hours, and romances of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. They teem in the initials, miniatures, and illuminated margins of manuscripts. Specific visual features identify the fools as such and describe their nature. With extensive knowledge of ancient, biblical, patristic, and historical sources on madness, dance, and music, with dazing originality, illuminators invested great care in producing these figures of the mundus inversus and in the transmission of the scholar model they personified.

In the medieval literature, madness means nonsense and the insipiens or the fol is consistently defined in relation to wisdom. This madness is twofold, positive and negative, natural and artificial, and concerns both the soul and the body. King David conveys in this literary and iconographic genre visual and moral power to the fool’s figure, who becomes related to music, dance, rhythm, and harmony. Thus the initial letter of Psalm 52 (53) “Dixit insipiens” opposes in new ways the moral virtue of David to the fool’s sin and vice. The madness of religious inversion is also that of the Fête des Fous. This ritual organized by the Church reverses the church hierarchy, parodies the church service thorugh dances, games, banquets, the Office de l'Âne, and the Évêque des Fous. The figure of the fool is ambiguous also in terms of political power: it can both condemn and authorize inversion and staged disorder.

At the end of the Middle Ages the jesters dance farandoles or the moresca in groups. They also participate in danses macabres. Always ambivalent, they are major figures of court festivities and reveal and relieve through laughter and macabre social tensions and the imagined nature of life and death themselves.

[Robert Scott Horton]

* * * *

“The secret of the successful fool is that he's no fool at all.” ― Isaac Asimov

[empirearchives]

Fête pour la Paix Générale donnée à Paris le 18 Brumaire. Pont Royal & Pont et Place de la Concorde.

Artists: Francesco Piranesi, François Jean Sablet

1801-2

Source: The Met (1) (2)

Two fête prints showing the illuminations of the Tuileries bridges for the celebration of the ‘Paix Générale’ at Paris, November 9, 1801’. This was the second commemoration of Napoleon’s coup d’état of 18 Brumaire 1799.

1. This print shows a night time view from the Rive Gauche looking across the river Seine at the Pont Royal and the Louvre. The bridge and waterside have been decorated with artificial lights and fireworks light up the sky. On the river in the foreground on the left, two small boats have been depicted.

2. This print shows a night time view from the Rive Gauche looking across the river Seine along the Pont de la Concorde towards the north-east. The bridge and waterside are decorated with artificial lights. On the river in the foreground to the right, a group of small boats is depicted. The sky over the bridge is characterized by a large cumulus cloud that’s lit up by the fireworks.

[lesbiancolumbo]

they've released a previously unseen fragment that agnès varda shot as test footage for a christmas film she was working on and then abandoned. in her own words:

Christmas Carol. Or rather Carole, because it was the name of this very young girl making her debut in 1965-1966 in a field reserved for men, before Claire Bretécher entered it and did wonders: cartooning. With his two friends, they earned their living by painting “father of Christmas” decorations on the bay windows of brasseries. For one of the two, I was looking for what we called a beatnik. Élizabeth Guy (the same one who later became his wife) sent me Gérard Depardieu. He was 18/19 years old and had a sumptuous air of revolt. Christmas Carole testified to the fed up that was already brewing among young people. Refused in advance on receipts, I decided to shoot a sequence or two to lure a producer. Here we are making plans towards Montparnasse. We also turned towards Boulevard Haussmann, in front of the packed windows of the department stores and the Christmas lights. Igor denounced excessive consumption while begging. Depardieu's voice already had magnificent inflections. And his courage never wavered, he was the one who carried the stand and even the camera sometimes, especially when we did some ambient shots on rue de la Gaîté. All that remains of all this is a few photos, four to five minutes of film that at the time I couldn't even fit in. Agnes Varda (1994)

[primordialsoundmeditation]

🤍Imbolc - the festival of the year, symbolizing the rebirth of the Earth, which is still hidden under a blanket of snow. Imbolc marks the beginning of the cycle of eight key days in the annual solar way.

Traditionally, Imbolc will be held on the fixed date of 1. onto the 2nd. Celebrated February - right in the middle between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.

Imbolc brings a week of magic (3 days prior, the day of the feast, 3 days after) aimed at cleansing, renewal, gathering inner resources and unleashing creative potential.

🤍 Meaning of the name Imbolc 🤍

The origin of the name Imbolc is associated with the Altirian “mblec”, often translated as “in milk”. Various interpretations include “clearing rain”, “in mother’s lap” and “sheep’s milk.” Milk, with its symbolic meaning and magical power, occupies a special place during this time.

Humans taste their mother's milk at birth, just like how the Earth provides us with new energy every spring. Imbolc offers the opportunity to touch the nourishing forces of the universe and fill us with light and warmth.

In various traditions, the Imbolc festival is also known as Imbolg, Candlemas, Festival of Lights, Brigid’s Day, Brigid’S Feast, Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Oimelc, Pancake Day, Festival of Pan, Feast of Torches, La Fête de la Chandeleur, Groundhog Day, Setsubun.

🤍 Symbolik des Imbolc-Festes 🤍

For rituals and practices, an altar will be created with symbols of the Goddess and the main attributes of the festival. White cloths as a symbol of the snow blanket and white ribbons can decorate the altar and fill it with the light of this enchanting time.

The festive color palette includes white, cream, yellow and all pastel shades. Fire, whether in the form of candles or a campfire, becomes a symbol of illumination, inspiration, cleansing and rebirth.

Milk used in initiation rites symbolizes rebirth and the potion of life, emphasizes family blood ties and motherhood. Brigid’s Cross, a powerful home amulet, symbolizes the solstice during this sacred time. May this magical blend of symbols fill your days with light and blessings!

Carol Barbeau

[archduchessofnowhere]

“I pray daily to the good Lord to preserve you for a long time for our happiness”

The other day I discovered Antiquariat Inlibris, an Austrian antique store that specialize in selling rare books and letters, and their online catalogue is a true mine gold of content. Among the many items I came across with were three letters that Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Duke Karl Theodor in Bavaria and Queen Marie Sophie of the Two Sicilies wrote when they were children to their mother Duchess Ludovika, congratulating her on her birthday.

The first two are from a nine-years-old Elisabeth and a seven-years-old Karl Theodor, both dated August 25, 1847. Elisabeth wrote her letter in French, while her brother wrote it in German, in verse. Note how they used the same lace-decorated paper.

Transcription:

Ma chère Maman!

Je te félicite de tout mon cœur pour ta fête; je prie journellement le bon Dieu de Te conserver longtemps pour notre bonheur. Te promettant de faire mon possible pour Te contenter, chère maman, je Te prie d’aimer toujours

Ta reconnaissante fille Elise.

Translation:

My dear Mama!

I congratulate you from my whole heart on your birthday; I pray daily to the good Lord to preserve you for a long time for our happiness. I promise you to do my best to please you, dear mama, I pray that you always love Your grateful daughter Elise

Transcription:

Sieh, wie hier, dieß Herz in selig stiller Wonne, | Theuerste Mama, von Liebe überfließt, | Heut! Da gleich den Tag die holde Morgensonne | Dich Geliebteste dein Namensfest begrüßt. | Fromme Wünsche, die in meinem Herzen glühen, | Steigen für dein stetes Wohl zum Himmel auf. | Schön und anmuthsvoll, wie Frühlingsblumen blühen, | Die der Thau erquickt, so sey dein Lebenslauf. | Mög der güt'ge Himmel seine besten Gaben, | Dir verleihen, lächeln dir mit holdem Blick, | Stets mit süßer Freude deine Seele laben, | Lohnen deine Mutterliebe mit reinstem Glück. | Ich will werth seyn stets des Himmels hoher Gnade | Die in deinem Glücke er auch mir beschert, | Und verdienen immerdar auf meinem Lebenspfade | Das, was deine treue Mutterliebe mir gewährt. 

Karl.

Translation by DeepL, but since this is a poem the automatic translator likely butchered it:

See, how here, this heart in blissful silent delight, | Dearest mama, overflowing with love, | Today! Since the fair morning sun is about to dawn | You most beloved your name festival greets. | Pious wishes, which glow in my heart, rise to heaven for your constant well-being. | Beautiful and graceful as spring flowers bloom, | Which the dew refreshes, so be thy course. | May the good heaven bestow its best gifts on thee, | Bestow upon thee, smile upon thee with a fair look, | With sweet joy thy soul always refresh, | Reward thy motherly love with purest happiness. | I will always be worthy of heaven's high grace. | Which in your happiness he also bestows on me, | And merit evermore on my life's path | That which your faithful motherly love grants me.

Karl.

The third congratulation letter is dated August 30, 1850, and it was written in German by an eight-years-old Marie:

Transcription:

Liebe Maman!

Freudig ergreife ich heute bei Gelegenheit deines Geburtsfestes die Feder um dir die Wünsche meines Herzens, aus aufrichtigem und kindlichem Gemüthe stammend, darzubringen. Möge der liebe Gott dich noch viele Jahre im besten Wohlseyn und ungestörter Zufriedenheit erleben lassen und dir alle Güter, die dein Leben zu verschönern im Stande sind im reichsten Maße zu Theil werden lassen. Möge aber auch der liebe Gott mein Bemühen, dir durch Fleiß recht viele Freude zu machen, segnen und es mir auf diese Weise gegönnt seyn, dir deine mütterliche Sorgfalt und Liebe einigermaßen zu vergelten und mich derselben immer würdiger zu machen. Dieß sind die Wünsche um deren Erfüllung heute ganz besonders zu Gott bitten wird deine dich innigliebende Tochter Marie

Translation by DeepL:

Dear Mama!

Joyfully I take the pen today on the occasion of your birthday to offer you the wishes of my heart, coming from a sincere and childlike mind. May the good Lord let you experience many more years in the best well-being and undisturbed contentment and grant you all the goods that are capable of embellishing your life in the richest measure. May the good Lord also bless my efforts to bring you much joy through diligence and may it be granted to me in this way to repay you to some extent for your motherly care and love and to make myself more and more worthy of it. These are the wishes for the fulfillment of which your daughter Marie, who loves you dearly, will especially pray to God today.

Interestingly Marie and Karl Theodor's letters are each €1500, while Elisabeth's letter costs €15000, a true testament on how anything that Sisi and her myth touched can turn into gold. More importantly, however, is how these letters are a testament on how much Ludovika was loved by her children.

Sources: [x] [x] [x]

[iyla-devar]

A New Mission || Solo

TIMING: 2011, shortly after Iyla moved to town SUMMARY: Iyla's first gala in Wicked's Rest proves everyone is useless, but at least she finds a snack. TRIGGER WARNINGS: Infidelity, Alcohol use

“No, no no! Up on the left side you dip- Oh just let me do it.” 

Iyla shoved her “event coordinator” out of the way, pinning the banner in the correct spot on the wall. Lord, it wasn’t that hard. Sometimes Iyla wondered why she even bothered with coordinators when they all fucked it up anyway. But she needed the extra hands, even if it meant she had to follow them around and fix all their little mistakes.

“There, see? Now I have to go and make sure everything else on your plate was completed to my satisfaction.” Iyla waved the mousy woman away. “Go make yourself useful and bring me a macchiato.” 

Iyla spun and sauntered away, her heels echoed on the hardwood floor, probably installed somewhere around the time of Iyla’s Disaster Ball. It desperately needed refinishing, but Iyla had a soft spot for these sort of historical embellishments, especially when it came to locations for her charity galas. What better way to put her clients in the mood to spend thousands on old, crackling pieces of “art” than to surround them with similarly long-lived decor? 

Auctions and galas and charity functions, they all reminded her of her better life, one where she wasn’t beholden to the vengeance of others, where the most complicated thought that plagued her mind was what wine to serve with the scallop hors d'oeuvre. Sure, she had access to reality bending superpowers, but what good were they if they couldn’t bring her Tomas back? 

Sighing, Iyla plucked a wayward vase off one of the sign up tables, replacing it with the much more appropriately sized bouquet from one of the dining tables. She rolled her eyes. Was it too much to ask to use some damn common sense? This was her first event in Wicked’s Rest, a town so boring they had to create a cryptid problem just to keep them relevant. But this was going to be her home now, and she was going to make her mark. Even if the event coordinator seemed intent on ruining it for her.

In a matter of hours, the room was filled, soft orchestral music the perfect soundtrack to hushed whispers and gentle clinking of silverware. Humans milled around, trying to assign meaning to each of the paintings and sculptures, debating which would be the perfect accent to their gilded toilets or plush living room sets. A few patrons swung by to offer their platitudes, ‘amazing party, Iyla!’ ‘Beautiful, as always!’ ‘What an amazing array this time! Really making it hard to choose just one piece!’

Iyla smiled, the party feeling empty. Not like the lively fêtes she used to throw in her heyday. It was all starting to bore her when she inhaled the most glorious scent: wrath, tinged with revenge. The fury whirled, noting a solitary figure intently gazing at a Willem de Kooning piece.

“Ah, Revenge.” Iyla smiled sweetly at the woman, clasping her hands in front of her. “Are you a fan of Kooning?”

The woman snorted, downing what was left of her champagne. Iyla snapped, prompting a waiter to hasten over with a new platter of flutes. “My husband. For some reason, he loves these stupid prints. Poems and finger paints, if you ask me.” She gulped at the fresh flute of bubbles. “Or maybe he just enjoys things made by children. Or more specifically, just children. Barely out of college. Probably still making finger paint- Oh lord…I- forgive me…” The woman drained the rest of the glass, patting her hair down self consciously. “I’m Darcy, Darcy Coates.”

Iyla inhaled. Betrayal. Infidelity. A marriage holding on by a thread. This could be fun. Not to mention everyone in here had been meticulously hand picked for attendance, they were each fair game as far as Iyla was concerned. 

Coates…yes, her grandmother had been in charge of washing the linens for her ball back in 1926. 

“Iyla Devar.” The fury held out a dainty hand. “You don’t happen to be related to Isobel, do you?”

The woman - Darcy - smiled, a sad sort of smile Iyla had come to know meant someone died. “Yes, my grandmother. Did you know her? I’m sorry…but she passed on about a decade ago.” Iyla bristled. She’d gotten to live far too long. What had she washed those linens with anyway, kerosene? Oh well, her granddaughter would do just fine as far as Iyla was concerned. Sins of the father and all that jazz.

“If you ask me,” Iyla leaned in, shifting the subject back to one that was useful to her. “This series, this entire thing,” She gestured around her. “It’s all bullshit. These people, they spend thousands on glorified children’s paintings, to what? Show their friends? To have them just so others don’t get their hands on them?” She scoffed. “Revenge. The best revenge? Would be to buy this hunk of junk and burn it on his front lawn.” Iyla shrugged, noting the way the other woman hung on her words. “But that’s just me. You might have something much more creative in mind.”

Darcy Coates stared at the painting, her pulse quickening. Iyla could practically hear the gears turning, contemplating just how much she hated her husband. “I could help you with that,” she purred, as if reading the woman’s mind. “And I think we could create some art of our own.”

Maybe living in Wicked’s Rest wouldn’t be so terribly boring after all.

[gracie-bird]

Printed documents issued by the Principality of Monaco on the occasion of the Royal wedding between Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly. The set contains a very attractive folded printed program, red cover, richly decorated, entitled ''Fête de Nuit'' (''Night Gala''), listing to the inside all artists and activities scheduled for 15th April 1956, three days before the wedding day. The show included Andre Levasseur´s decors and the participation of Jean Cocteau and Eddie Constantine among other artists. Together with an official printed invitation sent on the occasion of the Royal wedding, bearing to the heading an attractive gilt embossed Monaco Royal seal.

[marinelp]

🐰 Birthday Boy 🐰 • 🇫🇷 Ce bébé poilu fête ses 7 ans aujourd’hui 🎉 Joyeux anniversaire mon @myronthebunny ❤️ Et vous, vous avez des animaux de compagnie ? Ils ont quel âge ? 😀 • 🇬🇧 This fluffy boy is turning 7 today 🎉 Happy birthday my baby @myronthebunny ❤️ Do you have any pets? How old are they? 😀 • #constructionmaison #teamconstruction #interior4all #decorationinterieur #livingroom #livingroomdecoration #homedesign #decorar #decoracão #decoracioninteriores #decor #homedecor #decorationscandinave #decorationsalon #interior4u #interiorstyles #interiors #deconoel #sapindenoel #christmastree #christmasiscoming #christmasdecoration https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl4CPEFMT_J/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[alain-keler]

Dimanche 11 décembre 2022.

Ange de Noël à Montreuil.

 La tradition nous dit que les anges jouent un rôle important dans l’histoire de la naissance du Christ. Ils ont rendu visite à Marie et Joseph avant la naissance du Christ, et la nuit de sa venue, ils sont apparus pour annoncer la grande nouvelle au monde.*

Cette explication, je l’ai trouvée dans un site qui s’appelle « trucs et bricolages » ET qui vous apprend comment faire une bonne décoration au sommet de votre sapin. Sur You Tube, vous pouvez écouter pléthore de musiques sur les anges.

 Il y a aussi eu une série « Mon ange »** sur TF1, une musique de KRN ***, les anges. Bref on en finit plus avec les anges, ils se sont reproduits sans doute par millions. On appelle aussi mon ange nos enfants ou copines.

La période qui annonce Noël est remplie sans aucun doute de bonnes intentions. Le monde est beau, le monde est bon. Pas tant que ça, je trouve.

 Mais cela n’est qu’une opinion personnelle. Parcourez les rues de Paris, les quais de certaines stations du métro et vous verrez toutes ces personnes qui ne profiteront jamais de Noël, ou d’autres fêtes, car ils n’ont rien. Même pas un ange pour leur parler et les aider. J’exagère, il y a des bénévoles qui aident, des associations. Ce sont eux que l’on devrait qualifier d’anges.

*https://www.trucsetbricolages.com/decorations/d-ou-provient-la-tradition-de-mettre-un-ange-au-sommet-du-sapin-de-noel

** https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/mon-ange

***https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3nsLtjSbmg

[chicinsilk]

Christian Dior Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 1955.

Dorian Leigh wears “Musique de Fête” Marie-Antoinette blue organdy evening dress, decorated with pink flowers at the waist.

Christian Dior Collection Haute Couture Printemps/Été 1955. Dorian Leigh porte "Musique de Fête" robe du soir en organdi bleu Marie-Antoinette, ornée de fleurs roses à la taille.

Photo Guy Arsac

[chic-a-gigot]

Mode-palace : album mensuel des dernières créations parisiennes. No. 7, juillet 1902, Paris. Gravure coloriée no. 1. Toilettes pour la Fête des Fleurs. Bibliothèque nationale de France

Première toilette, façon tailleur, en toile de laine gris nickel, ornée de straps de même étoffe, avec petits biais de taffetas gris plus foncé bordant chaque straps, La jupe est très ample du bas et collante des hanches. Corsage-blouse avec ceinture en forme; col brisé et revers bordés de taffetas gris foncé. Manches longues et larges, forme camisole, avec poignets justes. Petits boutons d’or au corsage. Chapeau composé de deux plateaux en paille rafla, séparés par une couronne de roses roses. Velours noirs enserrant le bord, retenus par un motif brillant. Gants de suède blancs.

First ensemble, suit style, in nickel gray wool canvas, decorated with straps of the same fabric, with small biases of darker gray taffeta bordering each strap. The skirt is very full at the bottom and clinging to the hips. Bodice-blouse with shaped belt; pointed collar and lapels lined with dark gray taffeta. Long, wide sleeves, camisole shape, with fitted cuffs. Small gold buttons on the bodice. Hat made up of two rafla straw trays, separated by a crown of pink roses. Black velvet surrounding the edge, held in place by a shiny pattern. White suede gloves.

Métrages: toile, 6 mètres; soie doublure, 12 mètres.

—

Seconde toilette, en voile rose crevette. La jupe est plissée à plis pincés dans le haut et est très ajustée des hanches; le bas est évasé et orné de deux volants plissés du haut à plis pincés, avec roses de guipure sur la couture du premier volant. Boléro plissé, bordé de roses de guipure et ouvert sur un plastron plissé en travers et agrémenté de deux groupes de petits velours noirs. Col fichu en mousseline de soie blanche, descendant en écharpe suivant le boléro, passant sous la ceinture et tombant sur la jupe en deux longs pans noués. Manches justes plissées, en voile rose, avec parements au coude ornés de roses de guipure; un nœud de velours noir retient le bouffant de mousseline de soie qui retombe sur le bas de manches juste et plissé. Capeline en paille bise et rose, ornée de velours noir et couverte d’une couronne de roses voilées de dentelle et accompagnées de feuillage.

Second ensemble, in shrimp pink veil. The skirt is pinch pleated at the top and is very fitted from the hips; the bottom is flared and decorated with two pleated ruffles from the top with pinched pleats, with guipure roses on the seam of the first ruffle. Pleated bolero, edged with guipure roses and open on a pleated plastron across and decorated with two groups of small black velvets. Tied collar in white silk chiffon, descending in a scarf following the bolero, passing under the belt and falling on the skirt in two long knotted sections. Just pleated sleeves, in pink voile, with elbow cuffs decorated with guipure roses; a black velvet bow holds the silk chiffon bouffant which falls on the fair, pleated bottom of the sleeves. Capeline in beige and pink straw, decorated with black velvet and covered with a crown of roses veiled in lace and accompanied by foliage.

Métrages: voile, 7 mètres; mousseline de soie, 2 m 50; soie doublure, 12 mètres.

[histoireettralala]

The Fall of Fouquet

Of those who sat in Louis XIV's council in March 1661, Nicolas Fouquet was beyond a shadow of a doubt the most charismatic and flamboyant. His background was typical of the upwardly mobile noblesse de robe, and his family like so many others had invested a fortune accumulated as drapers merchants in ennobling office. Fouquet’s grandfather and his father, François, had both served as judges in the Parlement of Paris, and his mother, Marie de Maupeou, was herself a member of another rising robe clan. The family had acquired an impressive reputation for piety, and its links to Saint Vincent de Paul, the parti dévot, and the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement had opened additional doors to the powerful. All six of Marie’s surviving daughters entered the religious life, as would three of her five sons. Nicolas, on the other hand, was destined for a career in royal service, joining first the Parlement of Metz, and then, following the route trekked by countless aspiring young robins, by purchasing the office of maître des requêtes and serving as an intendant, attracting the attention of Mazarin in the process. In 1650, he had bought the prestigious office of procureur général in the Parlement of Paris, and having proved himself scrupulously loyal to Mazarin he was rewarded with the post of surintendant des finances in 1653.

As surintendant he was responsible for government fiscal policy in the aftermath of the Fronde and was charged with finding the funds needed to prosecute the seemingly endless war with Spain, proving remarkably able and helping to secure a French victory consummated in the Peace of the Pyrenees of November 1659. Anyone capable of surviving for long in the cut-throat world of seventeenth-century finance was, almost by definition, talented, and no less certain to become fabulously rich. Fouquet was no exception, and by 1661 he had added prodigious wealth to an already substantial family fortune that was made manifest in the construction of the beautiful château of Vaux-le-Vicomte, only a few miles from the royal palace of Fontainebleau. Designed by the architect Louis Le Vau and with its interiors decorated by Charles Le Brun, Vaux-le-Vicomte was an aesthetic triumph set within majestic gardens, created by André Le Nôtre, complete with ornamental fountains that have rightly been seen as an inspiration for Versailles. A man of taste and refinement, Fouquet forged a reputation as a generous artistic patron, and, amongst others, Molière, Pierre Corneille, Jean de La Fontaine, and Paul Pellisson benefitted from the surintendant’s largesse. Despite his family’s impeccable dévot credentials, Nicolas moved in eclectic and heterodox intellectual circles, and, much to his mother’s chagrin, his reputed good looks and genuine charm had given him an established reputation as a gallant.

(Fouquet on the left, Louis XIV on the right)

Rich, self-confident, and having proved himself to be an able and loyal servant of the crown, Fouquet, at only forty-six years of age, had every reason to suppose that a long and profitable career stretched before him. His actions in the months following the cardinal’s death were certainly not those of a man harbouring any inner self-doubts. In August 1661, he agreed to sell his office of procureur général in the Parlement to his friend Achille de Harlay, presumably confident that his interests in the court would be well served as he also had close ties with its first president, Guillaume de Lamoignon. More dramatically, on 17 August 1661, Fouquet threw one of the most notorious parties in French history. Using the magnificence of Vaux-le-Vicomte as the setting, the guests, who included large swathes of the French governing elite, were treated to a sumptuous fête, with a theatrical performance directed by Molière, fireworks, and other entertainments all ostensibly in honour of the king. Popular tradition, reinforced by numerous literary and cinematic productions, maintains that Louis XIV, furious at being upstaged by a mere minister and convinced that such lavish display could only be at his own expense, swore revenge. Fouquet had undoubtedly been tactless as the interior of the château boasted a lavish state bedroom, complete with railed bed, which had been prepared as if the monarch was intending to be a regular guest of his munificent minister. Those aristocrats present were horrified that a mere robin should be so presumptuous and the king almost certainly shared their prejudices. If this was the case, he was nevertheless careful to conceal his fury and neither Fouquet nor contemporary witnesses interpreted events in quite the dramatic fashion of later commentators, and the minister continued to work almost daily with the king.

At the end of August, the monarch and his entourage began a tour of Brittany, timed to coincide with the assembly of the provincial estates. By now, the surintendant had received a number of quite explicit warnings about threats to his position and he was growing anxious. Despite his misgivings, he travelled to Nantes and while he was suffering from a fever the king had sent for news of his health, which must have helped to allay his fears. If Louis-Henri de Loménie de Brienne, who was present on the scene, is to be believed, Fouquet even had hopes that it would be Colbert who would be arrested and that his position was secure. On 5 September, the surintendant was well enough to work as normal with the king, but as he left the audience he was accosted by Charles d’Artagnan and a detachment of musketeers. D’Artagnan promptly arrested an astonished Fouquet, who is said to have exclaimed that ‘he thought that he held a higher place in the king’s esteem than anyone else in the kingdom’. If that was indeed the case, then it was a monumental misjudgement because he had just plunged into the most profound disgrace.

D'Artagnan (left) arrests Fouquet (right)

Almost immediately it became apparent that the fall of Fouquet was no momentary loss of favour. Instead it had been carefully premeditated over several months by Louis XIV and Jean-Baptiste Colbert, another aspiring robe noble who had made his fortune as the steward of Mazarin’s private fortune. Colbert not only replaced Fouquet at the head of government finances, but he also directed a trial that was intended to conclude in a death sentence against his imprisoned rival. Fouquet’s brothers, his wife, mother, and close associates were either arrested or exiled, his papers seized in circumstances that made a travesty of the law, and he was brought before a specially convoked commission, not the Parlement of Paris as would have been his right had he not sold his office to Achille de Harlay only a few weeks before. Fouquet had seriously undermined his own political position, and recent precedents were grim. Had Richelieu been directing affairs, Fouquet would have been fortunate indeed to escape the block. However, Colbert seems to have been determined to use Fouquet as a scapegoat for the endemic corruption that both men had profited from, and which had been one of the defining features of Mazarin’s ministry. Fouquet was therefore accused of péculat, an elastic term encompassing a wide range of financial misdemeanours. While burrowing around in Fouquet’s château of Saint-Mandé, the investigators also stumbled across some secret documents from 1658 outlining a strategy for revolt in the event of his arrest. Although it was clear that they were intended for use against Mazarin, not the king, it was decided to add the capital charge of lese-majesty to the existing accusations against the prisoner.

(Fouquet vs Colbert, there will be only one)

Raking up all manner of supposed earlier misdeeds against a disgracié was common practice. On this occasion it proved counterproductive, and had the government moved quickly it could conceivably have obtained a rapid judgement and the desired death sentence. Instead, it tried to dig up more and more evidence and the trial proper did not commence until 3 March 1662. Confronted by a complicated mass of financial accusations and with Fouquet putting up a spirited and effective defence of his actions, the case dragged on for over two years. Colbert and the king grew increasingly frustrated, meddling with legal procedure, seeking to intimidate judges and witnesses alike and making it clear that while they wanted to give the impression of a fair trial it should not be at the expense of a guilty verdict. Fouquet’s family and his many friends and admirers gradually recovered from the shock of his arrest and began an energetic campaign on his behalf, convincing a substantial part of public opinion that he was the victim of a vendetta. When the verdict was finally announced in December 1664, the judges did find the accused guilty of péculat, but rather than impose the death penalty as the government intended they voted by a small majority in favour of banishment and a substantial fine.

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Fouquet’s spectacular fall is arguably the most dramatic and poignant example of the potentially calamitous consequences of ministerial disgrace. The first great political crisis of Louis XIV’s personal rule, it cast a long shadow and yet in many ways it marked the end rather than the beginning of a chapter as the age of the minister-favourite gave way to that of the secretary of state. Although Fouquet had escaped with his life, his draconian punishment was very much in the tradition of Louis XIII and Richelieu and arguably of late medieval monarchy. Rather than simply dismiss Fouquet and banish him from court, as a master would discard an unsatisfactory servant, Louis XIV had treated him as a criminal who had stolen from his treasury and plotted against his authority. It was a very political trial, one that brings to mind the treatment of Claude Barbin, following the murder of Concini, or that of the maréchal de Marillac, in the aftermath of the Day of Dupes. Indeed, Fouquet’s miserable existence in Pignerol almost bears comparison with that of cardinal Jean Balue, who according to popular legend was locked in an iron cage in the château of Loches after falling foul of Louis XI. The harsh treatment of Fouquet’s family and the confiscation of their property as well as the persecution of his friends and clients was again consistent with earlier practice, echoing in milder form the attacks on the Concini in 1617.

Julian Swann- Exile, Inprisonment or Death- The Politics of Disgrace in Bourbon France.