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The exhibition Miniatures from the Time of Marie Antoinette offers an exceptional opportunity to view the delicate treasures of Tansey Collection, kept in Germany and usually closed to the public.

We should be careful not to project our own concepts of nudity and modesty onto our 18th century ancestors.

This is the intriguing question begged by the superb exhibition of late 18th century miniatures at Gallery in London.

Be prompt too, because the show closes very soon, on 13 November! To go back to the alleged Marie Antoinette miniature, what are the grounds for the identification of the sitter with the Queen? However, it was not unusual in the 18th century for aristocratic ladies to be painted in various states of undress, under cover, so to speak, of an allegory or a mythological character.

Some may be surprised that the young Queen she was then 26 allowed herself to be painted naked.

All quite unusual for a miniature.

More to the point, the nautical character of the work is obvious : the branch of coral and bunch of rushes held by the lady, the seascape in the background, and the fish on which she rests her arm.

Miniature of Marie Antoinette naked?.

Well, this even happened to Gabrielle, the heroine of my first novel, Mistress of the Revolution.

This one is dated as of 1781, the year when Marie Antoinette gave birth to the heir to the throne, the Dauphin Louis-Joseph.