Antique & Vintage Postcards

A haunting black-and-white reproduction of Auguste Cain's celebrated painting captures the final, dignified departure of Marie-Antoinette from the Conciergerie prison on October 16, 1793 — the last morning of her life. The queen, dressed in white and wearing her distinctive plumed hat, descends stone steps flanked by Revolutionary soldiers bearing muskets, as a guillotine is barely visible through the great iron-gated arch behind her. The architectural stonework of the Conciergerie's courtyard frames the procession with grim grandeur. Issued as a souvenir card by the Conciergerie du Palais (stamped in a circular cachets on the reverse), this card belongs to series No. 172 and was sold at the historic prison itself, now a museum on the Île de la Cité. The card is unposted, in excellent condition, printed by the Service Commercial des Monuments Historiques from the Grand Palais, Paris — a prestige institutional publisher making this a collector-grade item for both French history and royalist ephemera enthusiasts.