The Marchioness – Illustrated Story

[Steve]

Hello, everyone! In closing out my celebratory year, I was inspired by @wulf 's posting awhile back of the great excerpts from William Fifield’s “The Devil's Marchioness” about the true-life 17th century French serial killer, the Marchioness (or Marquise) de Brinvilliers Marie-Madeleine d’Aubray, to create this new mini-illustrated story for your enjoyment.

Here’s the setup for THE MARCHIONESS –

Paris, 1676. The scandal of the century has captivated the Parisian aristocracy. The beautiful Marchioness de Brinvilliers Marie-Madeleine d’Aubray is on trial for the murder of her father and two brothers by poison to claim the family fortune for herself.

The Marchioness feigns innocence and it appears she will be acquitted because the evidence against her is wholly circumstantial. That is, until a surprise witness appears. The Marchioness’ former lover, Jean-Baptiste Briancourt, claims to be an eye witness to her crimes and testifies against her. The trial is stopped and the Marchioness is sent to the Conciergerie, a prison located in Paris, to be interrogated …

There will be about 10 illustrations in total and I’m posting the first four. The first illustration is a portrait of the Marchioness with the story setup.

 

[Steve]

The Marchioness is surprised by the abruptness of it all. In the Conciergerie, the guards do not put her in prison garb before the interrogation. Instead, they remove her studded shoes, pull down her finely embroidered dress, strip off her silk hose and chemise, and chain her up to interrogate her under the lash.

Note, this illustration is a recreation of the first drawing I ever did in the genre decades ago that is now lost to history. The Marchioness’ sordid tale is the perfect story to bring it back to life.

 

[Steve]

The guards’ obvious plan is to overwhelm the Marchioness. She is not given a respite after the severe whipping. Instead, she is put straight to the rack, where she ultimately confesses to being a murderess.

 

[Steve]

The Marchioness is brought before the Procureur-General, who sentences her to death by beheading on account of her rank. He further imposes the punishment of three tortures prior to her execution, one for each of her victims.

Note, this is the era of the Musketeers, so of course I had to include one in the illustrations and excited to draw him.