Royal Portrait: Augusta Amalie, Duchess of Leuchtenberg with Her Children

A beautiful portrait of Princess Augusta Amalie of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg and Vicereine of Italy by Andrea Appiani. It was commissioned by the Princess herself as a wedding gift to her husband, Eugene de Beauharnais while he was in Eisenstadt. She was depicted here with her two eldest children, Josephine and Eugenie. Augusta was pointing with her daughter's finger on the Hungarian city of Raab where Eugene and Napoleon's troops defeated their Austrian opponents.

This portrait is courtesy of Neumeister Alte Kunst-Moderne.

"A Sacrifice for My Country" - Princess Augusta of Bavaria

Princess Augusta Amalia Ludovika Georgia of Bavaria was the wife of Eugene de Beauharnais, stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was born in Strasbourg in 1788, the eldest daughter of the future King Maximilian I of Bavaria and his first wife, Princess Auguste Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. Augusta's childhood was marked by many unhappy events. Before the French Revolution, Augusta's father was serving in the French army, but after its outbreak, he changed sides, choosing to serve under the Austrian army in order for him to be able to take part at the French Revolutionary Wars. Maximilian became the Duke of Zweibrucken after the death of his older brother, and decided to return to Germany to oversee his new duchy. But upon his return, he saw his duchy being occupied by the French army. Riots broke out, and the situation became so tense and dangerous that he and his family were forced to flee to his wife's homeland, Darmstadt. Then they moved to Mannheim, where they lived in modest circumstances for the next five years.When the French started attacking Mannheim, the family was forced to flee once again. They seek refuge in Ansbach, but Princess Auguste-Wilhelmine's health was greatly undermine by the stresses of war and five pregnancies. After giving birth to her fifth child, she died in Castle Heidelberg.