157 - Alexandre KUCHARSKI (Warsaw, 1741–Chaillot, 1819), attributed to

Alexandre KUCHARSKI (Warsaw, 1741–Chaillot, 1819), attributed to Portrait of Marie Antoinette at the Temple OIL ON CANVAS (original) In a rectangular gilded wooden frame, decorated with fleurs-de-lis at the corners, inscribed in black at the bottom: “MARIE-ANTOINETTE / Archduchess of Austria, Queen of France. / Painted by KUCHARSKI. ” Bears an inscription on the back of the stretcher: “The painter KUCHARSKI, being a National Guard soldier and having been on duty twice at the Temple following the death of Louis XVI in 1793, had the honor of seeing the Queen and sketched the exact design for this painting, which he later executed. ” 22 x 15.5 cm (tear in the center of the face, to be restored; minor imperfections and damage to the frame) Related works - Alexandre Kucharski, Marie Antoinette at the Temple, 1793, oil on canvas, 25 x 20 cm, Versailles, National Museum of the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon (inv. MV 5295). - Alexandre Kucharski, Marie-Antoinette at the Temple, c. 1815, oil on canvas, 21.5 x 16 cm, Paris, Carnavalet Museum (inv. P1457). - Alexandre Kucharski, Marie-Antoinette at the Temple, oil on canvas, 21 x 16 cm, Versailles, Lambinet (inv. 761). - Alexandre Kucharski, Marie-Antoinette at the Temple, oil on canvas, 25 x 20 cm, Warsaw, Museum of the Royal Castle. Background Following the events of August 1792 and the fall of the monarchy, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, their children, and Madame Elisabeth were imprisoned in the Temple. The conditions of detention for the royal family gradually worsened there, particularly following the trial of Louis XVI. He was sentenced to death and guillotined on January 21, 1793, after which Marie-Antoinette went into mourning. She remained at the Temple until her transfer to the Conciergerie prison on August 2, 1793. The queen was also guillotined on October 16, 1793. Kucharski became the queen’s portraitist following the emigration of Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun and the royal family’s departure for Paris in October 1789. In particular, he created a pastel portrait of Marie- Antoinette, which remained unfinished (Palace of Versailles). The minutes of the queen’s trial indicate that Kucharski visited her at the Temple between January 26 and April 1, 1793, to create a second portrait depicting Marie-Antoinette at the Temple. It is likely that he made sketches and studies on that occasion, which he later revisited in his studio to paint the final portrait (some believe the original portrait is the one at Versailles, while others believe it is the one formerly owned by the Marquise de Tarente and later by the Duke of Uzès). Dressed in black, the color of mourning, in a simple gown, the queen appears very dignified, as her contemporaries attested. Her gaze fixes on the viewer, while her silhouette stands out against a brown wall, evoking her prison. This image was highly successful, and Kucharski produced numerous copies of it, which he was still distributing at the beginning of the Restoration, coinciding with the reestablishment of a monarchy in France beginning in 1815. This small painting, created between 1793 and 1815, is believed to be one of these numerous replicas by the artist, attesting to the significance of the cult surrounding Marie Antoinette, who had become a martyr figure of the monarchy.