About this artwork
This was painted after Roberts visited Versailles and the hamlet that Marie Antoinette had built by the Grand Trianon Lake, between 1783 and 1785. Inspired by the theories of the 'state of nature' expounded by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French Queen created a fantasy village which included a real dairy and a barn that doubled as a ballroom. The main building is the Queen's House. Marie-Antoinette is depicted in her favourite guise, as a shepherdess. Roberts made drawings and photographs on site and once back in her studio created her own impression of the Queen in these extraordinary surroundings.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:Julie Roberts (born 1963) Welsh
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title:Shepherdess Marie Antoinette
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date created:1999
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materials:Oil on acrylic on canvas
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measurements:180.00 x 210.00 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 2000
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accession number:GMA 4328
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Julie Roberts
Julie Roberts
Roberts was born in Fflint, Wales. She studied at Wrexham School of Art, Central St Martin's School of Art and Design and Glasgow School of Art. Roberts established her name with paintings exploring the history of medicine, images of medical instruments, apparatuses and clothing, such as operating...