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| Portrait by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1783. |
Very loosely adapted from the Metropolitan Museum's website - both paintings are in their collection - and other sources:
Noël-Catherine Verlée (or Worlée; 1761, Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu – December 10, 1834, Paris), was the daughter of a minor French official posted to India. At the age of barely sixteen Catherine married a civil servant of Swiss descent working in Calcutta, George Francis Grand. The couple separated soon after, due to her brief but scandalous affair with Sir Philip Francis, a British politician. Subsequently, Madame Grand removed to London.
In about 1782 she moved to Paris where, being a beautiful blond, ill-educated but musical and clever, she became a very fashionable courtesan; the portrait that Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted of her in 1783 when she was only twenty-two attests to her lively personality and stunning looks at the time. She returned to Britain just before the French Revolution, but by 1794, with the Revolution waning, Madame Grand had returned to France.
Madame Grand now entered into a highly visible affair with Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, later prince de Bénévent, the brilliant - and infamously wily - statesman and former bishop of Autun, who had become a principal figure in the emerging government of the Directory. When she was arrested on suspicion of espionage in March 1798, Talleyrand secured her freedom. That same year, having been estranged from her husband for more than ten years, Madame Grand obtained a divorce in absentia.
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| Portrait by François Pascal Simon, baron Gérard, circa 1804-5. |
Elaborate negotiations with Napoléon and the Vatican were required before the former bishop was allowed to marry, at Neuilly, on September 10, 1802; despite the First Consul's strong reservations, Napoléon and Joséphine signed their marriage contract. Upon their first official reception at the Tuileries, Napoléon is alleged to have remarked, "I hope that the good conduct of citoyenne Talleyrand will cause the fickleness of madame Grand to be forgotten." (The alternate - and more likely - version of the marriage negotiations is that Talleyrand was actually quite reluctant to regularize their union, and had to be coerced by Napoléon for the sake of propriety and his political career.)
With her less than respectable personal history, Napoléon ensured that Madame de Talleyrand was rarely at court; his Empress' own scandalous past was problem enough. At any rate, the couple quickly drifted apart, living separately; Talleyrand had already taken an official mistress, Madame Dubois, when he married, and was soon preoccupied with other women. Eventually, he arranged that his wife should go and live - luxuriously - in London. She returned to Paris in 1817, during the Restoration, and lived there quietly until her death at the age of seventy-three.
Reading this prompts me to recommend two books that I loved reading (more than once) about a portion of the life story of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, and his unique relationship with Dorothea, Grand Duchess of Courland, wife of Peter, Grand Duke of Courland. These book are "By Influence & Desire" by Rosalynd Pflaum and "The Congress Dances" by Susan Mary Alsop. There is also a fascinating relationship between Talleyrand and the daughter of the Grand Duchess, also named Dorothea, who was married to Talleyrand's nephew Edmond. If the interested historical reader can get these books and read about these events and the people you'll have a wonderful peak into a lost world. There is some info in the books about Talleyrand's wife Catherine. The best part was the intrigue and blatant manipulation by Talleyrand of the attendees to the Congress of Vienna; I keep thinking that someone needs to use this as a plot for a mini-series. Peggy
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendations, Peggy! I know of both books; I believe that somewhere along the way I've skimmed the latter. Yes, In both his public and private roles, Talleyrand was decidedly a rascal! ; )
DeleteMore modern psychological studies of Talleyrand (benignly exiled -- unlike his younger brothers-- by his impoverished aristocrat parents because he was born with mild Marfan's Syndrome and deformed feet, the right one a club-foot; deprived of his primogeniture rights and forced against his will to become a [libertine] priest, then a bishop) reveal an iron-willed self-sufficient, secretive man who had stable-avoidant attachment style; an emotionally-detached intellectual super-achiever who nevertheless liked and respected women, and valued the concepts of "family" and "home". Notably, Talleyrand kept most of his old mistresses as a cherished circle of lifelong friends with whom. he liked to socialize-- not the style of the typical womaniser. Despised by the aristocratic mother who was scandalised by his amoral lifestyle, nevertheless he cared for, and sought her company till she died . His political genius, charm and wit were legendary, and he was far more seduced than seducing-- he was charismatically attractive to women into old age. His reputation as a lover in court gossip was noteworthy both for "stamina" and gentleness. Because of his emotionally deprived childhood, he seems to have craved feminine, maternal tenderness whilst maintaining an inscrutable reserve to prevent any attempt at emotional manipulation -- hence his atypical enmity with the overpowering and politically ambitious Mme de Stael. They may briefly have been lovers, though she was not his "type"--and had mistakenly tried to use him for her own agenda.
ReplyDeleteTalleyrand wrote to a friend that his wife, "Madame Grand" (who was not as stupid as gossip had her-- she was a paid English spy, as well as humiliating him with her indiscreet affair with a Spanish Duke--which probably accounts for Talleyrand's separation from her shortly after they were married). was "the only woman. who had ever brought him to the highest empyrean" of pleasure; perhaps because of his Marfan's syndrome, he was less capable of physical pleasure, which accounts for his reputation of unusual sexual stamina so admired by his mistresses. When asked what he valued most in an intelligent, aristocratic woman -- he said "understanding", which accords with an avoidant-attachment man craving tenderness, but who is too proud to express his need for it. Canny women would havel sensed this and as well as compassion for a crippled lover, would meeting his deep need for kindly nurturing, would have inspired from him enduring gratitude long afterward.
About age 62 Talleyrand finally fell in love with his 22 year old niece by marriage, Dorothée Duchess of Dino -- probably because he saw in her his younger self-- an emotionally deprived and lonely childhood, intellectually brilliant, self-disciplined, proud, betrayed by a parent into an unwanted vocation. They were soul-mates and a "political power couple" --though due to her passionate nature, Talleyrand tolerated an open relationship where Dorothée discreetly took passing paramours. They had an adored daughter in 1820, a child who was deeply loved by Talleyrand (though both mother and daughter called him "Uncle" in public.) These emotionally damaged intellectuals understood and each loved the other with protective affection until Talleyrand's peaceful death, aged 84.
Thank you so much for this very interesting and insightful far-from-a-mere-comment, Anonymous!
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