Oct 04, 2021 14:17:00

The contents of a secret letter between Marie Antoinette and her mistress Count Axel Fersen are revealed

by

Oh Paris

The encrypted and blackened part of the letter between Queen Marie Antoinette of France and her mistress Count Axel von Fersen on October 1, 2021. The French team has released the findings that the decryption was successful. The research team has compiled the report made in 2020, and also published some of the deciphered content.

2D macro-XRF to reveal redacted sections of French queen Marie-Antoinette secret correspondence with Swedish count Axel von Fersen
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abg4266

Secret words exchanged between Marie Antoinette and rumored lover uncovered in redacted letters | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/marie-antoinette-redacted-letters-revealed

In the midst of the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, who was imprisoned in the Tuileries Palace , frequently exchanged secret letters with her best friend and mistress Count Axel Fersen. The letter has been passed down to the present day through the Fersen family, and part of it is preserved in the French National Archives. However, 15 of these letters were blacked out by someone and the contents were unreadable.

Anne Michelin and colleagues at Sorbonne University surveyed letters using 'macro X-ray fluorescence analysis,' which is often used to study cultural heritage. By chemically analyzing the ink used in the letter, I tried to separate the original ink from the black-painted ink and read the contents. As a result of the investigation, it was found that the metal component contained in the ink on which the original characters were written was different from that of the ink used for black painting. Of the 15 letters, 8 succeeded in deciphering the contents.

According to Michelin and others, words such as 'amour (love)' and short phrases such as 'ma tendre amie (my dear friend)' were hidden in the blackened areas. There were also sentences such as 'pour le bonheur de tous trois (wishing the happiness of all three)' and 'non pas sans vous (no good without you)'.

The research team also revealed that most of the letters from Marie Antoinette to Count Axel Fersen were not the ones of Marie Antoinette himself, but were copied by Count Axel Fersen. According to Michelin, it was a common practice at that time to copy letters for records, and Count Axel Fersen seems to have done it for the same purpose. Michelin and colleagues conclude that it was Count Axel Fersen who painted the black.

It is unknown why Count Axel Fersen kept the letter black. 'I don't know if it's Count Axel Fersen's affection or political strategy, but I'm sure Count Axel Fersen wanted to protect Marie Antoinette's honor,' Michelin and his colleagues said.