Monday, May 25, 2009

Immortalizing Mary


A little while ago a reader (I'm sorry I forgot who!) was asking if there were any Georgian portrait-sitters who had also been photographed later in life. This portrait was suggested and I finally was able to find it so that I could post it for all to see.

This is a 1856 photograph by Antoine Claudet of Queen Victoria, Princess Alice, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester at age 80. Princess Mary was the daughter of King George III and the sister of two other kings, George IV (fondly known as the Prince of Wales on this blog) and William IV. She was said to be Queen Victoria's favourite aunt, and was the last surviving child of her parent's fifteen children. Here are some other portrayals of Mary from

1785 by John Singleton Copley (left)



















1797 by William Beechey

















and an undated print from her brother's reign as regent

6 comments:

  1. Er, Heather, don't you mean an 1856 photograph?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Astonishing! I so wish there would be photographs of Georgiana and Harriet!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's so incredible to see her in portraits and then in a photograph real life!! Thanks so much for posting this :)

    ReplyDelete