Category: Madame Tussaud

Madame Tussaud leaves France for England, never to return—Early days in London—On tour—Some notable figures—Shipwreck in the Irish Channel. MADAME TUSSAUD arrived in this country with her Exhibition some time in May, 1802. There is considerable difficulty in tracing her movements during the first few years after her arrival. The information points to her having […]

Madame dines with the Terrorists Marat and Robespierre, models’ their figures, and subsequently takes casts of their heads—She visits Charlotte Corday in prison—Death of Curtius–Madame marries—Napoleon sits for his model. ONE of the most bloodthirsty of all the red Terrorists was Jean Paul Marat, who was slain in his bath by Charlotte Corday on the […]

Madame Tussaud recalled from Versailles—The 12th of July, 1789—Busts taken from Curtius’s Exhibition—A Garde Française slain in the mêlée. IT must be remembered that the “romance” of Ma-dame Tussaud’s began in the French capital one hundred and fifty years ago. As we view to-day the quaint little figure of Ma-dame which stands in the Exhibition […]

Heads of the Revolution—Madame’s terrible experiences—The guillotine in pawn—Madame acquires the knife, lunette, and chopper. IT is no part of our concern to trace the course of the Revolution throughout, or to dwell too long upon its horrors. Nevertheless before Madame Tussaud passed into tranquil days she had to suffer the severest ordeal of her […]

Eve of the French Revolution—Necker and the Duke of Orléans—Louis XVI’s fatal mistakes—His dismissal of the people’s favourites. WE are now approaching the day when the long-pent-up storm, threatening for so great a while, was about to burst, and we must contemplate King Louis XVI and his advisers seeking for a means to placate a […]

Life-size figures—Museum at the Palais Royal—Exhibition on the Boulevard du Temple—Benjamin Franklin—Voltaire. A GOOD deal of hearsay and some incontestable evidence helps to fill the hiatus between the time Curtius came to Paris and the outbreak of the Revolution. Although the many years spent by Curtius in the production of miniatures in coloured wax do […]

Madame Elizabeth of France—Madame Tussaud goes to Versailles—Foulon—Three notable groups—”Caverne des Grands Voleurs.” IN the year 1780 the ill-fated Louis XVI had been six years on the throne, and Curtius by this time had become well ingratiated with the followers of the New Régime. Among the many distinguished visitors who honoured Curtius’s studio with their […]

Curtius leaves Berne for Paris—The Hôtel d’Aligre—The Court of Louis XV—Madame arrives in Paris. IN response to the Prince de Conti’s invitation, Curtius left Berne for Paris a few months later, and for once the time-honoured adage proffering a warning to those prone to rely upon the promises of princes had no bearing, for this […]

Wellington ‘visits the effigy of the dead Napoleon, and sits to Sir George Hayter for historic picture—Paintings from models—Is the photograph “taken from life,” or—? WELLINGTON gazing upon the effigy of Napoleon is one of the many instances of a really fine picture being produced from an original work executed in our studios. Upon it […]

Landseer and the Count d’Orsay visit the Exhibition—A fright—Norfolk farmer’s account of Queen Victoria’s visit. About the year 1845 the celebrated Count d’Or-say, being, as usual, in a desperate state of impecuniosity, was absolutely afraid to venture out of Gore House (where now stands the Royal Albert Hall), except on, Sunday, for fear of being […]