Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Liotard's Portraits of the Royal Family

In his long life the pastel-ist, Jean-Étienne Liotard had the privilege of rendering the portraits of not one but two royal families.  You can find his portraits of Maria Theresa's brood on Lauren's blog today.  Here are Liotard's portraits of Frederick, Prince of Wales' family from 1754.

Frederick Prince of Wales

Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales
George III
Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland
Princess Caroline Matilda
Princess Louisa

11 comments:

  1. Man, people talk about little girls' clothing being too sexualized nowadays -- that's some low necklines they have there, give you can even see one girl's nipples.

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  2. Prince Frederick's epitaph:

    ‘Here lies Fred,
    Who was alive and is dead:
    Had it been his father,
    I had much rather;

    Had it been his brother,
    Still better than another;
    Had it been his sister,
    No one would have missed her;

    Had it been the whole generation,
    Still better for the nation:

    But since 'tis only Fred,
    Who was alive and is dead,—
    There's no more to be said.’

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  3. These are really gorgeous. Love the one of Henry Frederick.

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  4. You can certainly tell they're related--they all have the same nose and the same eyes.

    Which worries me -- why should his wife have the same eyes and nose he does?

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  5. Did they all really have pop eyes or is that still the look that was fashionable at the time of Charles II? You can see it in almost all the Lyly portraits.

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  6. It would be interesting to have some talented photoshopper examine current Royals family pictures and run them "backward" to see what they MIGHT have looked like. Retro

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  7. They all have very fine noses.

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  9. I can't help but pity the young girl Caroline Mathilda in this portrait. They said she was attractive ( not evident yet), but her life was so tragic married off to a derilect husband in a foreign land. And when she does find true love in an illicit affair, he eventually is gruesomely executed in front of her. Better to be unknown and relegated to history's obscurity and no portrait over that life anyday! Oh...and really...a nipple showing????!!!

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  10. What's with the nipple? Quite revealing for a little girl.

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  11. Wow I didn't even catch that wardrobe malfunction! That's quite the stiff bodice they have the young princess in.

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