The Dark Counts

The Dark Counts, or Dunkelgrafen in German, was a nickname given to the wealthy couple who resided in the castle of Eishausen from 1807 until their deaths. The man presented himself as Count Vavel de Versay but kept the woman’s identity secret, making it clear that they were neither married nor lovers. They led secretive lives, particularly the Countess who ventured out only in a carriage or with a veil covering her face.

When she died in 1837 she was buried quickly, possibly without a religious service. The Count - later identified as Leonardus Cornelius van der Valck - gave her name as Sophie Botta of Westphalia and according to the physician who constated her death, she looked about 60 years of age. The Count stayed in the castle and died there in 1845.

Speculations about the identity of the Countess started early on. The most notable theory, although it enjoys little support from historians, is that the Countess was actually Marie Thérèse, the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. According to the hypothesis, Marie Thérèse, traumatised by her trials or pregnant by rape, refused to go back in the world and Ernestine Lambriquet, supposedly the illegitimate daughter of Louis XVI by a chamber maid, and therefore Marie Thérèse’s half-sister, took her place.

The theory of exchanging the person sprang immediately after the wedding of Marie Thérèse with the Duke of Angoulême in 1799. Pictures of the Duchess of Angoulême look remarkably different from pictures of Marie Thérèse before 1795 and her social style is said to be very unlike that of the original Madame Royal. 

The graves of the Dark Counts are still untouched on the Eishausen cemetery. In June 2012 the Stadrat of Hildburghausen gave permission for the exhumation of the body to allow for a scientific determination of identity. The name given by the count, Sophie Botta, was not found in any civil registry in Westphalia.

[Image Source: 1: Marie Thérèse before 1799 : 2: Marie Thérèse after 1799]

Physiognomy with Charles Le Brun

Charles Le Brun was a French painter and art theorist. Declared by Louis XIV ”the greatest French artist of all time”, he was a dominant figure in 17th-century French art. He also established a correlation between the human face and that of the animal whose spirit characterises a particular emotion.

The goal of physiognomy is to judge character according to features of the face. Le Brun studied the lines linking different points of the head in a complex geometry which revealed the faculties of the spirit or character. Thus, the angle formed by the axis of the eyes and the eyesbrows could lead to various conclusions, depending upon whether or not this angle rose toward the forehead to join the soul or descented toward the nose and mouth, which were considered to be animal  features. Here are some of the many drawings by Charles Le Brun which concern the correlation between the human face and that of the animal.

Image one, for instance, shows the relationship between human features and that of a camel.

[Images Source]

(Source: charleslebrun.com)

Colourful Dancers of the Casino de Paris

The Casino de Paris is one of the most well known music halls of Paris, with a history dating back to the 18th century. Contrary to what the name might suggest, it is a performance venue, not a gambling house. [Source]

These beauties, from the lavish topless revue shows at the Casino grace hand-coloured postcards which depict the accurate costumes and color of the famous theater. Patrons from around the world visit this establishment, and the influence of is extravagant costumes and topless dancers extends around the world. [Source (more images available here too)]

Napoleonic War Veterans

These remarkable photographs provide probably the only surviving images of veterans of the Grande Armée and the Guard actually wearing their original uniforms and insignia, although some of the uniforms have obviously been recut by tailors of the 1850’s. Every year the veterans would gather in Paris on May 5th - the anniversary of Napoleon’s death.

(Source: armchairgeneral.com)

The Monkey Aristocracy

These monkeys were once a scathing critique on French aristocracy. There is a monkey on a early sort of bicycle called a velocipede, a monkey harpist, a monkey violinist, two small monkey musicians, and an incredible monkey dandy under a large glass dome. All are dressed in fine silks with hair done up in the style of French Royalty. These automata were a post-French-revolution joke on the former rulers and current dandies of France. So popular was the theme of foolish aristocratic monkeys that it was common in French homes, and whole rooms were decorated around the theme.

One such room is the Chateau de Chantilly’s Monkey Room in Paris, France. In the mid-1730s the artist Christophe Huet was commissioned by Louis-Henri, the duke of Bourbon, to paint scenes with monkey vignettes on the walls of an elegant white Rococo salon with gilded stucco ornaments. By 1737, Huet had decorated nearly every surface  with a complex allegorical design in which monkeys, fashionably dressed, are depicted in aristocratic pursuits: boar hunting, drinking chocolate, doing their hair, dancing and singing. While the monkeys are charming, they also gently mocked the nobles they represented.

The use of monkeys to poke fun at the rich wasn’t always restricted to art, and often the rich joined in on the fun. “In the early 1700s it was fashionable for aristocrats to keep monkeys as pets. They dressed the monkeys in fancy outfits for comic effect and taught them human tricks, like pickpocketing, that they would display on leisurely walks around Versailles.” Little dressed up versions of humans, stealing treats from the lavish banquet spreads.

(Source: curiousexpeditions.org)