treasure, royal and personal

Entering the final room of the gorgeous Royal Treasures exhibit at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, the room dedicated the private collection of Marie-Antoinette, I admit that I blinked back tears, facing her Sevres porcelain likeness made in 1782.  

Yes, facing Marie-Antoinette, looking at her white neck, I did want to cry. 

I'd already been affected by the intimacy of sharing space with objects commissioned, possibly seen, touched, loved by Kings Louis XIV, XV and XVI in the rooms leading up to this one.  So many exquisite pieces.  And here was the piece de resistance, an entire dazzling room of things the Queen herself collected, snuffboxes, vases, her desk, a chair with her cypher.  

I wanted to stay there longer, will have to go back.

Say what you like about this (unfortunate) pair who had their heads lopped off, but damn it if Louis XVI and M-A didn't have some fine, fine taste.  Thank goodness that these pieces survived the brutality of the Revolution and that they're on loan to us here in San Francisco, assembled in this intimate manner, displayed to maximal advantage.  

There are so many things I love about this exhibit.  It's small, really, but each piece is exceptional.  The room devoted to the Gemmes de la Couronne is a delight -- I couldn't stop enjoying the decorative stickers applied to the dark walls, giving the impression of pieces of furniture between the displays of delicate gem-studded cups carved of solid semi-precious stone. This playful touch really made the room work, tied it all together, injected a playfulness where it would be easy to get all dismal and 1%-y about these rich people and their mad acquisitions.  The way each piece was lit and showcased made it possible to walk all the way around, take in every detail, marvel at the gemstone eyes of a perfectly rendered lizard on the lip of a cup, facing a fanciful mer-horse with a sapphire in the middle of its enameled white chest.

The craftsmanship, the artistry, of each piece is mind-blowing.  It made me wonder what we do now that can match this degree of expression, this sumptuous gorgeous fullness of detail and material and good ole razzle-dazzle?

Before reaching the Marie-Antoinette collection, our favorite piece -- that is, my favorite and that of The Kid, whose charming company I had on this field trip -- was a celadon vase with gilt bronze decorative elements.  I went back to this vase three times, eager to take in more of its exquisitely rendered snakes and scrollwork and sphinxes.  I count it as one of the most beautiful man-made things I've ever seen -- it's just remarkable to consider how very snakelike are the snakes, how hairlike the hair on the sphinxes, the grapes on the vine. Stunning. 

And then at the end, her room, Marie-Antoinette's stuff, presided over by her porcelain bust. Much much more so than at Versailles, I felt like I could picture her. Standing there in San Francisco surrounded by some of her personal treasures, I felt a sense of her, through her taste, that all the walking through the rooms of her palace never gave me.

That was the biggest treasure of all, the true gift of the exhibit.  

Royal Treasures is the first exhibit in a five-year partnership between the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Louvre.  It's showing until March 17th, and you can bet I'll be back, with Joe in tow this time.  He needs to see the furniture on display, the remarkable pietre dure pieces, and I need more time in that last little sparkly room, with Marie-Antoinette looking on.

We are remarkable creatures, not perfect but human, capable of making things of such enduring beauty no matter what happens to us individually.  Such a valuable reminder. Such gorgeous treasure.

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