This sculpture of a bejeweled fly was inspired by Church’s fascination with the story of the “Affair of the Diamond Necklace” that took place at the French court of Louis XVI in 1785. The incident started when Cardinal de Rohan, eager to gain Queen Marie Antoinette’s favor, acquired a necklace that he thought she secretly desired. But the cardinal was tricked and the queen, never receiving the necklace or knowing of its purchase, refused to pay the jewelers. Although innocent, Marie Antoinette was vilified in the eyes of the French people, thereby further discrediting the monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution.

Being a jeweler, Church became obsessed with the necklace in this story. She traveled to France to study a glass model of the original. The adage “If I could only be a fly on the wall” came to mind and she wished to go back in time to see the actual necklace. The Beauty Thief was born out of this wish. Here we see that fly, dusted with the scatter of his spoils—both real and fake stones of all sorts—stealthily taking flight.