Sunday, December 18, 2011

Lady in Black

Queen Louise-Marie, I suppose in mourning?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you're right, as you can see the combined coats of arms of the royal houses of Belgium and France.

Jorge

May said...

I'm glad you pointed out the coats of arms, Jorge. Perhaps she was in mourning for one of her French relatives?

Anonymous said...

Possibly. Her own son died in 1834; her brother, the Duke of Orléans, died on 1842; her sister Marie of Württemberg in 1839; her beloved aunt Madame Adélaide in 1847; and many close relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins, etc) died before 1850 (when Louise herself left this world). In those times courts held mourning for foreign royals very frequently. If you check the old Spanish State Bulletin you'll see how frequently the Spanish RF was in mourning for royals they were not even related to (at least closely).

Jorge

May said...

Yes, I was thinking especially of her brother's death, because it was such a tragedy. But you're right, she could have been in mourning for any number of European royals. It would help to know the date of this portrait.

Anonymous said...

I found this link with information about the portrait:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/joconde_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_98=REPR&VALUE_98=%20reine%20des%20Belges&NUMBER=4&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28reine%20des%20Belges%29%20%3aREPR%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P&SPEC=1&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=100&DOM=All

My French is limited to a few phrases, so I hope you'll do a better job than me finding more about it.

Jorge

May said...

Thank you very much, Jorge!

Apparently, it was painted around 1835 by Joseph Désiré Court.