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The Expiatory Chapel of Marie-Antoinette

Background

After his return to France in 1814, King Louis XVIII sought to reconcile the country with the royal ideology by promoting an attitude of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Marie Antoinette's Legacy

Marie Antoinette, born in Vienna in 1755, was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She became a symbol of excess and extravagance, often blamed for the country's financial crisis.

Marie Antoinette was executed in 1793, her death marking a turning point in the Revolution. Her memory remained controversial for decades, representing both the excesses of the monarchy and the brutality of the Revolution.

The Expiatory Chapel

In 1816, Louis XVIII commissioned the construction of an expiatory chapel on the site where Marie Antoinette had been buried. The chapel was designed by architect François-Louis Chalgrin and completed in 1826.

The chapel features a neo-Gothic design, with a white marble exterior and a stained glass interior. It contains sculptures of Marie Antoinette and her children, as well as a monument to the victims of the Revolution.

The chapel serves as a symbol of reconciliation and atonement, representing the country's desire to heal the wounds of the Revolution and honor the memory of its victims.