Painting #D08 - Elizabeth I

The Armada Portrait
- George Gower (1540-1596, English)
- oil on canvas (133 x 105 cm) c.1588
- Woburn Abbey (Bedfordshire)

Wearing dazzling jewels and fine clothes, English Queen Elizabeth I had her right hand resting on the globe, fingers touching the Americas. The American exploration brought wealth and new enemies, such as Spain.
    Behind her top right, the Spanish Armada fleet gathers in the summer of 1588, with the misson to defeat England and overthrow the Queen.
    Behind her top left, the Spanish fleet founders in stormy English waters. (And then Spain was no longer strong.)

The Rainbow Portrait
- Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561-1635, Flemish-English)
& Isaac Oliver (1556-1617, British)
- oil on canvas (127 x 99 cm) c.1600-02
- Hatfield House (Hertfordshire)

* (Msg 1) In all her magnificance encrusted with jewels, Queen Elizabeth I of England is holding a rainbow (symbolising peace) in her right hand.
* (Msg 2) The pearls, everywhere, symbolise purity --- of the Virgin Queen.
* (Msg 3) On her sleeve is an encrusted serpent (wisdom) with an orb (power) above and a little heart(emotion)-shaped ruby below --- Her heart being controlled by wisdom.
* (Msg 4) The golden robe was painted ears and eyes --- as queen, I have eyes and ears everywhere --- nothing you do will not be noticed by my loyal servants.

Face & history revealed

HM contracted smallpox and recovered: for the rest of her life she used heavy makeup to cover up facial scarring and a wig to cover her baldness.

Painting #D07 - Franz Joseph

Princess Sophie of Bavaria
with Her Son, Franz Joseph
- Joseph Karl Stieler (1781-1858, German)
- oil in 1832
- Hofburg Imperial Museum (Vienna)

Two-year-old Franz Joseph with his mother.

On his paternal side: his grandfather was Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor; his eldest aunt was Marie-Louise, second queen consort of Napoleon I; his elder uncle was Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria.

His elder uncle had no issues and passed the throne to him.

Emperor Franz Joseph I
in a Field Marshal's uniform
in the Hungarian style
- Mihály von Munkacsy (1846-1900, German)
- oil (97 × 72 cm) 1896
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830-1848-1916) married beautiful Empress Elizabeth of Austria (1837-1854-1898), giving birth to 1 son and 3 daughters.

Empress Elisabeth of Austria
- Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805–1873, German)
- oil (300 × 216 cm) 1865
- Hofburg Imperial Palace (Vienna)

她身穿华丽礼服的模样，简直像是童话里的公主一样。身高一米七二，腰围五十厘米，据说她一生都保持着这种犹如模特般的身材。三十岁后，年华开始老去，她愿意画肖像画，却不肯再站在照相机前面了。 简直像禁欲主义者一般彻底追求美丽的伊丽莎白，却在六十一岁时突然离开了人世，她在旅行途中受到暴徒攻击，她的一生最终以悲剧落幕。 在她去世后，画家还是在持续创作她的肖像画。

His domains were ruled peacefully for 45 years, although Franz Joseph personally suffered the tragedy of ...... the suicide of his only son and heir, Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889……

(Crown Price Rudolf died in a suicide pact with his mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera, at the Mayerling hunting lodge.)

Further, Franz Joseph personally suffered the tragedy of ...... the assasination of his wife, Empress Elisabeth in 1898.

Finally, the assassination of his next heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a nephew, triggered the Great War in Europe, or World War I.

Painting #D06 - Empress Marie-Louise

Marriage of Napoleon I and Marie Louise
(2 April 1810, Louvre chapel)
- Georges Rouget (1783–1869, French)
- oil on canvas (185 x 182 cm) 1810
- Versailles (Paris)

Empress Marie-Louise and her son Napoleon, King of Rome
- François Gérard (1770-1837)
- oil (240 × 162 cm) in 1813
- Château de Versailles

Napoleon I's second queen consort Marie-Louise (an archduchess from Austria) borne him a handsome boy (also named Napoleon) in 1811.

King of Rome / Roi de Rome
- Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830, English)
- oil (58 × 49 cm) 1818-1819
- Fogg Museum (Harvard U)

When N was exiled to Elba in 1814-1815, the powers refused to entertain his wish to pass the throne to his son; she then took her son eventually back to Austria and refused to see N ever again.

In 1820, her father Emperor Francis of Austria went to the opera in Venice (part of the empire then) with her. "The audience were clamorous in their applause, and so particular in directing it to the ex-empress, that, as the best way of appeasing the tumult, Marie Louise quitted the theatre. The audience, however, rose with her, and accustomed her home, leaving the the emperor of Austria in a most humiliating position."

Napoleon II, aka Duke of Reichstadt
- Leopold Bucher (1797-1858, Austrian)
- (33 x 22 cm) in 1832
- Musée national des châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau

Titular Napoleon II (1811-1832) had no empire nor kingdom to inherit. He lived a short life, and died of tuberculosis at 21, without any children.

After N's death, Marie-Louise remarried and had 3 more children. When widowed the second time, she got married the third time.

Source: Wikipedia

Painting #D05 - Empress Josephine

Joséphine in coronation costume
- François Gérard (1770-1837, French)
- oil (214×161 cm) c.1807-1808
- Musée national du Château de Fontainebleau‎

"Her marriage to Napoleon I was her second; her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais was guillotined during the Reign of Terror." Before the jailed Josephine's turn could happen, the Reign of Terror was ended by guillotining Robespierre. Her two children by Alexandre were Eugene and Hostense.

N first met J when she brought Eugene boy to receive Alexandre's sword returned via General N, who fell head-over-heel in love with J. Very charming and well connected, she introduced N to high society. In 1796, widowed J married N, 6 years younger than she.

In 1799 Josephine fell from a balcony that collapsed and sustained injuries that made child-bearing impossible. They were divorced in 1809 when Josephine (aged 46 then) could not give birth an heir to N's throne. 

In 1810 N married Marie Louise (aged 18 then) of Austria, who in the following year gave birth to a healthy son also named Napoleon and named King of Rome.

The divorce was quite amicable. N insisted that J should retain the title of Empress and maintain her court at Malmaison:

While N was in exile on the island of Elba: (1) Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI) was on good terms with J; (2) J later died of deadly pneumonia. When the death news reached N at Elba, he locked himself up in a room for two days (to mourn).

Finally, when N himself died in exile to the island of St Helena, his last words were, "France, l'armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine".  N never stopped loving J, but N had stopped respecting J, because J had not stopped seeing other men.

Eugène de Beauharnais
- Andrea Appiani, 1810

"Through her son, Eugène, she was the great-grandmother of later Swedish and Danish kings and queens. The reigning houses of Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg also descend from her."

Hortense de Beauharnais
- François Gérard

"Through her daughter Hortense, Josephine was the maternal grandmother of Napoléon III."

Hortense married Napoleon's younger brother Louis, and gave birth to 3 sons:
- Napoleon Charles (1802-1807)
- Napoleon Louis (1804-1831)

- Charles-Louis Napoleon (1808-1873)

The youngest son managed to make himself Napoleon III of France, Emperor of the Second French Empire.

Queen Hortense with her second son, Prince Napoléon Louis.
Portrait by François Gérard, 1807

 

Portrait of Napoleon III

- Franz Xaver Winterhalter

- oil on canvas (240 × 155 cm) 1853

- lost, several copies extant

Source: Wikipedia 

Painting #D04 - Coronation of Napoleon

Coronation of Napoleon I
- Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)
- oil (621×979 cm) 1805-1807
- Louvre (Paris)

The French Revolution overthrew the noble class and the Church in France. N restored the Church in attempt to restore its ethical values, which were apparently absent during the Reign of Terror.

N established a new royal family and a new nobility, around himself. His brothers and sisters were made rulers of his conquered states. Most of his siblings were in this painting. (His father had died.) His mother and elder brother Joseph were painted in, although they were absent from the ceremony, having disagreements with N.

In the inauguration, N took the crown from the Pope's hands and crowned himself. Then, N crowned his wife, whilst Pope Pius VII was seated, as in the painting.

Marche du Sacre de Napoleon (music of the coronation of Napoleon I)

Napoleon in Coronation Robes
- Francois Gerard

Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne
- Ingress in 1806

Painting #D03 - The Death of Marat

"On 13 July 1793, journalist Jean-Paul Marat was assassinated by Charlotte Corday, while taking a medicinal bath for his debilitating skin condition."

Jean-Paul Maratc (1743-1793) 

Painter David went onsite to paint the dead Marat.

The Death of Marat
－ Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)
－ oil (165 × 128 cm) 1793
－ Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

"In his death, Marat became an icon to the Jacobins as a revolutionary martyr. For this assassination, Corday (1768-93) was executed four days later." - Wiki

Charlotte Corday
- Paul Baudry (French, 1828-1886)
- oil (90 x 60 cm) 1860
- Musee des Beaux-Arts (Nantes)

"Under the Second Empire (regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870), Marat was seen as a revolutionary monster (causing too many to the guillotines during the Reign of Terror), and assassin Corday as a heroine of France (as represented in the wall map)."

The execution of Robespierre and his supporters
on 28 July 1794
(ending the Reign of Terror)

Thus ended the Reign of Terror.
"Note: the beheaded man is Couthon; Maximilien Robespierre is shown sitting on the cart, dressed in brown, wearing a hat, and holding a handkerchief to his mouth; his younger brother Augustin is being led up the steps to the scaffold."

Source: Wikipedia

Painting #D02 - The Bastille Day

The Storming of the Bastille
[on 14 July 1789]
- Jean-Pierre Houël (1735–1813, French)
- watercolor (51 x 38 cm) in 1789
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France

The Storming of the Bastille (for weapons), starting the French Revolution.

The poor:

Idealized sans-culotte
(pantaloons or trousers)
by Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845) 

... against the rich and powerful:

Louis XVI
dressed in culottes
(knee-breeches) 

Une exécution capitale,
 place de la Révolution (Place de la Concorde)
- Pierre-Antoine Demachy (1723-1807, French)
- oil on paper on canvas (37 x 53.5 cm) 1793
- Musée Carnavalet (Paris)

On 30 June 1878, a feast was officially arranged in Paris to honour the French Republic (the event was commemorated in a painting by Claude Monet).

Rue Montorgueil, Paris,
Festival of June 30, 1878
- Claude Monet (1840-1926, French)
- oil (81 x 50 cm) in 1878
- Musée d'Orsay (Paris)

The National Flag of France

.... is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red,

... which represent liberté, équalité, and fraternité, respectively. 

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
- Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier (1738–1826, French)
- oil on panel (71 x 56 cm) c.1789
- Musée Carnavalet (Paris)

Source: Wikipedia

Painting #D01 - Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette

(1755-1774-1792-1793)

- daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria

- queen consort of King Louis XVI of France

Archduchess Maria Antonietta of Austria
- Martin van Meytens (1695–1770, Austrian-Swedish)
- oil on canvas (43 x 28 cm) c.1767
- Schönbrunn Palace (Vienna)

Each single child of the Empress has 5 chambers in this Palace, whereas each married child 10 chambers.

(L) 15-year-old Louis-Auguste (future King Louis XVI) married 14-year-old Marie Antoinette from Austria, at the Royal Chapel of Versailles, where 6000 guests were received.

(R) The premier menuet from Les Indes Galantes was used in the Marie Antoinette (2006) movie,

Louis XVI, King of France (1755-1774-1792-1793),
wearing his grand royal costume in 1779
- Antoine-François Callet (1741–1823, French)
- oil on canvas (278 x 196 cm) 1789
- Palace of Versailles (Paris)

Yes, both were beheaded in the subsequent French Revolution.

Madame Lebrun

(1755–1842, French)

Self-portrait
- Madam Lebrun
- oil on canvas (100 x 81 cm) 1790
- Uffizi Gallery (Florence)

Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie
- Madam Lebrun
- oil on canvas (130 x 94 cm) 1789
- Louvre Museum (Paris)

Self-portrait
- Madam Lebrun
- oil (78.5 x 68 cm) 1800
- Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg)

Marie Antoinette in Court Dress
- Madame Lebrun
- oil (273 × 194 cm) in 1778
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

Marie Antoinette
- Madame Lebrun
- oil (113 x 87 cm) in 1783
- Chateau de Versailles

She loved roses.

Marie Antoinette and her Children
- Madame Lebrun
- oil (275 × 215 cm) in 1787
- Chateau de Versailles

Their lives were going to be changed drastically around the French Revoluion (1789); L-R:
* Marie Thérèse, known as Madame Royale at court --- to be detained for 4 years before sent to Austria, her mother's homeland, as an exchange;
* the Queen --- to be beheaded;
* the Duke of Normandy on mother's lap --- later Louis XVII in name, but to die of TB/malnutrition during imprisonment after the Revolution;
* the Dauphin is on the right pointing into an empty cradle --- to die of TB shortly before the Revolution;
* the cradle used to show Madame Sophie --- died later in the year and had to be painted out.

Louis XVI and his family, dressed as bourgeois,
arrested at the house of the registrar of passports,
at Varennes in June, 1791
 - Thomas Falcon Marshall (1818-1878, English)
- oil on canvas (105 x 143 cm) 1854
- private collection

The arrest of Louis XVI and his family
– Jean-Louis Prieur (1759-95, French)
- etching (35 x 47 cm) 1793-95
- Musée de la Révolution française (Vizille)

An angry crowd of fervent revolutionaries breaking down doors to arrest the King.

"Marie Antoinette was famously imprisoned in la Conciergerie during the nine weeks before she was beheaded at the Place de la Concorde. 

They show a room that is set up like it would have been when she was held there."

Marie Antoinette being taken to her Execution,
 October 16, 1793
- William Hamilton (1751–1801, British)
- oil on canvas (152 x 197 cm) 1794
- Musée de la Révolution française (Vizille)

[A04] Marie Antoinette on the Way to the Guillotine
- Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)
- pen & ink (15 x 10 cm) 1793
- Musee du Louvre (Paris)

Ten months earlier, Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine in a curtained royal coach.

The execution of Louis XVI

Marie Antoinette's execution
on 16 October 1793
@ Place de la Revolution