Historical Dolls (Empresses and Queens)

A while ago, I was surfing the internet for portraits of royal ladies, and I came across this wonderful collection of historical dolls created by Cheryl Crawford. I thought the dolls and their costumes looked beautiful. I just love how Ms. Crawford was able to transform well-known and evocative characters in history into such a beautiful works of art. Here are some photos of her lovely creations. By the way, I do not own any of these dolls nor the pictures.

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France, Queen of England

Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Louise of Prussia

The Treaty of Tilsit

Napoleon receives the Queen of Prussia at Tilsit, July 6, 1807.
The painting also shows King Frederick William III of Prussia and Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
(Painting by Jean Charles Tardieu)

Queen Louise accompanied her husband with the hope of helping him secure better terms for Prussia. Unfortunately, Napoleon proved to be adamant. In the course of this infamous and momentous meeting, the French emperor offered the beautiful queen a rose, which she took, and asked furtively, "With Magdeburg, Sire?" Napoleon sternly answered: "Madam, it is mine to give, yours to accept what I offer!" This rebuff proved to be the Queen's breaking point, for she was already by this time suffering from ill health and was so worn out with anxiety for her husband and the whole country. Her grief for her suffering people and her hapless country took its toll, and Queen Louise died before she could ever see Prussia's victory and the overthrow of Napoleon Bonaparte. Before she died, she was said to utter the words: "Were they to open my heart, they would find Magdeburg engraved upon it."

The Gallery of Beauties

A tour in Munich, Bavaria is certainly not complete without a visit to the imposing Nymphenburg Palace. The palace was used to be the summer residence of the Kings of Bavaria, and it is now famous not only for its collection of artworks, but also for housing the Schönheitengalerie or the Gallery of Beauties.

The Gallery of Beauties is a collection of 36 portraits of the most beautiful women in Munich. The portraits were commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria, a man known for his eccentricity and his love for beauty. German portrait painter Joseph Stieler painted the 36 portraits, featuring women from royalty (including King Ludwig's relations), nobility, and middle-classes, the latter group were shown wearing elaborate dresses and hair accessories despite their humble backgrounds. In 1861, Friedrich Durck painted two more portraits for the Gallery of Beauties (the portraits of Anna Greiner and Carlotta von Breidbach-Bürresheim).

Berengaria of Navarre: The English Queen Who Never Set Foot in England

Berengaria of Navarre, Queen of England.
Engraving from c.1890.

Berengaria of Navarre, consort to one of England's most beloved and best remembered kings, Richard I (the Lionheart), had a distinction in history as the only Queen of England never to set foot in England, well at least during her husband's lifetime. Just as in the case of early medieval English queens consort, little is known about Berengaria's life, and this what makes her more intriguing for me. She lived in a time of many historical events and yet she was overshadowed by more forceful personalities of that time (Richard the Lionheart and his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine). Berengaria is one of my favorite historical character, and I have always looked up to her as a beautiful, intelligent, compassionate and courageous woman, deeply devoted to her husband. But beauty and devotion were all seemed wasted. Richard, although undoubtedly the ideal warrior-king and the epitome of a chivalrous knight, was far from being the ideal husband (and the ideal king), and his treatment of Berengaria reveals a rather cold and callous side of his personality.

Portraits of The Princess Margaret

Princess Margaret has always struck me as a very lovely young woman. I just love her large, piercing blue eyes, her dazzling smile, and her beautiful coloring. She was very elegant and glamorous. No wonder she was a fashionable figure during the 1950s, and was always named as one of the best-dressed women at that time. This beautiful princess is indeed the embodiment of elegance and charm. It is just kind of sad that she spent the last days of her life in isolation and loneliness.