Marie-Antoinette’s Correspondence under X-Ray
In 2021, the National Archives and their partners succeeded in deciphering redacted texts: texts written by Queen Marie-Antoinette during her captivity at the Tuileries (June 1791 – August 1792) addressed to the Swedish Count Axel de Fersen. This secret correspondence, partially preserved at the National Archives of France, had been censored.
Three years of research
Three years were needed by the researchers of the Rex project to decipher the letters — which are mainly political in nature — of Marie-Antoinette and Axel de Fersen, redacted, coded, or written in invisible ink. The decipherment was achieved using scientific imaging technology.
Definition
To redact a text means to make a passage unreadable by crossing it out or covering it with black ink, for example. This is a method of censorship intended here to conceal sensitive information, often of an intimate nature. The term refers to censorship methods used in the time of Tsar Nicholas II and to the black ink that visually resembles caviar.
The Rex Project
“Rex” is the code name of the project “Research on the Extraction and Analysis of Underlying Traces in Ancient Manuscripts,” applied to Marie-Antoinette’s letters. Using X-rays (X-ray fluorescence spectrometry or XRF), the project has revealed the content of redacted passages and allowed the separation of 18th-century inks, all without harming the original documents. The project was carried out by the Research Centre for Conservation (CNRS / National Museum of Natural History / Ministry of Culture), the Dynamiques patrimoniales et culturelles laboratory (Dypac), and the National Archives, with support from the Heritage Sciences Foundation.
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