Friday, March 25, 2011

Prince Lucien Murat Photo

One beef that I have about Prince Murat is the portrait that is always displayed of him. Printed descriptions of him say that he was tall, handsome, carried a debonair attitude, and personable to a point that friends would loan him money never expecting it to be repaid. Now that is personality.

The photos I have seen of his father, Prince (Joachim) Murat I, show him to be very handsome with oodles of curly black hair and a trifle of a smile sneaking out of a formal pose. But the photos I have seen of his son Lucien show a man that I certainly would not seek out, even at a town social get-together. I mean really, must publishers always show pictures of once-famous people when they are aged and grossly out of shape? Age may have made them refined like fine wines but by that time they don’t usually look as good as the label on that fine old bottle.

It rather reminds me of Mr. Darcy. As Austen wrote, “would he have been so handsome if he were not quite so rich?”

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