Tag Archives: Napoleon

Two Duchesses (Part Two)

Posted on 01/07/2022 by carolinemmurray

For those who are still with me, we now go back in time to look at the life and travails of Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma (1782–1824), queen of Etruria, duchess of Parma and duchess of Lucca. Her father was Charles … Continue reading →

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I Blame Walter Pater

Posted on 03/11/2018 by carolinemmurray

‘She is older than the rocks among which she sits’ is one of those much repeated quotes which really needs a bit of context. Pater’s full paragraph on the subject of the Mona Lisa is positively rococo in its ramblings, … Continue reading →

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Billy Ruffian

Posted on 28/08/2015 by carolinemmurray

Frindsbury is a small town in Kent, opposite Rochester on the Medway, and from time to time regarded as part of that cathedral city, which Dickens used as the model for Cloisterham in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, his last, … Continue reading →

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