Why some people still believe KOA had the stereotypical Spanish looks?
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ 🤦♂️
Well, nothing more to say about a girl who says that Spaniards have olive skin
@catalinadearagonsblog Lee esto último
Ya me quedó claro que la tipa es una racista y si algún día llega a estar aquí solo te dire:
You are a fucking racist
Mis españolas @catalinadearagonsblog @rmelster @maymoore. Lean esta triste historia
Antes del último comentario de ella y como esta jodia con el ADN, le respondí quién era la bisabuela de Catalina ya que le pregunté quién era
oooooh, yeah, I’m going to have so much fun with this one.
she reminds me of an Italian guy who insisted me Alessandro de’ Medici (first Duke of Florence and a biracial man), was not biracial, he was just “Italian” (despite the overwhelming evidence his mother was black and the portraits painted in that era depicting him as biracial LOL). This girl’s dismissing both portraits taken from life and ambassador’s descriptions (oftentimes very accurate and a valuable source of information) is such a red flag. Now! Let’s dissect this, bit by bit.
As many know already, Isabella I of Castile (Isabel la Católica for us Spanish-speaking folks) had reddish blonde hair and a fair complexion, inherited from her English grandmother, Catherine of Lancaster (who was Catalina’s namesake by the way). Most of her children inherited her colouring, and among her five living children, the ones who are said to have resembled her the most were Juana (Joanna I of Castile, unjustly known as “The Mad”) and Catalina (Catherine of Aragon), which was perhaps the reason why the two portraits produced by Juan de Flandes may be misattributed or interchanged by more amateurish witnesses.
Isabel la Católica’s likeness in Pedro Marcuello’s Cancionero, c. 1482.
There is no possible denying that Isabel and her daughter Juana had this red golden hair, four complexion, delicate features and light eyes. If you encounter contemporary portraits of them who exhibit brown or dark hair, it is likely due to the deterioration and poor conservation of the pigments that the artist used to paint their hair.
One of the first claims this user wields is that young Catherine’s portrait is actually misattributed and instead represent her older sister Juana. The thing is, there are actually TWO portraits, both painted by Juan de Flandes, depicting them both in their youth, which were likely commissioned to be sent to be examined by prospective bridegrooms (which would eventually be Philip of Austria, “the Handsome”, and Arthur, Prince of Wales). Catalina was about eleven when she had her likeness taken, and while she looked very similar to her sister Juana (which may have led to some confusion) there are traits that distinguish them.
Left: infanta Catalina de Aragón, by Juan de Flandes. Right: Juana de Castilla, by Juan de Flandes.
After a conscientious examination, a keen eye may pick that, unlike her older sister, Catalina has blue eyes and a more rosy complexion, and her eyes are bigger, her face is rounder and her ears are smaller and more shapely. The neck appears shorter and her lips have a distinct Cupid’s bow shape that Juana does not share. Juana is a tad bit thinner (her face has more shadows, indicating a bone structure that is a bit more prominent than her younger sister’s), her brows are not as arched and her forehead is slightly taller; her neck appears longer and more slender, her jawline more defined. This does not only happen in this set of portraits, but you can also see it in later portraits of the sisters. You can tell the portrait on the left (which is believed to have been made after the right’s, therefore annulling any claims of it being a previous painting displaying how Juana grew older) depicts a younger girl, with a dress more akin to a young child’s daywear and her hair uncovered and partially loose, unlike the portrait on the right, which exhibits an older girl with her hair gathered at the back of her head and covered and covered in a short of colourful net /snood, wearing a grown dress with a more noticeable décolletage
The user next mentions how some of her most famous portraits as a young woman actually represent Henry VIII’s younger sister Mary Tudor, later Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk. The user may be alluding to the two portraits by Michel Sittow. Sittow had most notoriously worked for Catalina’s parents, and the painting could be quickly traced to descriptions of Catalina (plump, good-looking, golden red hair, fine features, fair but rosy complexion), which makes her a greater contestant to the protagonism of both artworks, but let’s see this more closely.
Left: The Magdalene, by Michel Sittow, c. 1515-1516. Right: Portrait of a noblewoman, by Michel Sittow, c. 1514 (conflicting dates).
Both paintings depict a woman with fair skin, lustrous reddish-golden hair, heavy-lidded eyes, a small, pouting mouth (specially seen in the Magdalene) and a snub nose. We could argue that this was an archetype in Sittow’s art, an embodiment of the region’s and era’s beauty ideal for women (an ideal we know for a fact Catalina fitted in). As I said earlier, the identity of the sitter is still a hot topic of debate among art historians and curators. I will give my own opinion, supported by both artwork depicting both of them taken from life and descriptions by contemporaries.
Mary Tudor was said to be very beautiful, tall and graceful, if a bit thin for the day’s taste. Meanwhile, Catherine was acknowledged to be plump and round faced, being shorter in stature than Mary. This can be quickly ascertained by a comparison of other portraits and artworks depicting the two sisters in law.
Left: Detail of the wedding tapestry at Hever Castle, generally thought to be depicting the marriage ceremony between the young Mary Tudor and her aged first husband, Louis XII of France, c. 1525. Right: “La royne Marie”, a drawing made of Mary Tudor during her brief tenure as Queen of France, c. 1514-1515.
And these are two miniatures depicting Catherine, made in the middle of the decade of 1520s by the artist Lucas Horenbout.
Left: Catherine of Aragon with a pet monkey, by Lucas Horenbot, c. 1525-1526. Right: Portrait miniature of Catherine of Aragon, by the same artist, c. 1525.
Catherine had a distinctly snub nose, which was inherited by her daughter, whilst Mary’s was straight.
Left: The lady Mary (later Queen of England), by master John (1544). Right: Mary I, Queen of England, by Anthonis Mor (1554). The above paintings bear witness to the queen having inherited her mother’s rosy complexion and snub nose.
I personally believe there exists a third portrait which may more aptly portray Mary Tudor. it’s also titled “the Magdalen” (though is more known by the name of “Mary Magdalene”) and it was realised by an unidentified painter (some sources argue it was done by Bernhard Striegel, a German painter at the imperial court of Habsburg, which might be a call back to the time Mary Tudor was engaged to Charles V). It is believed to have been finished c. 1520; by this time, Mary was about twenty-four, had returned to England married to her beloved Duke of Suffolk, and had regained her brother’s favour after this secret marriage. This Mary Magdalene portrait, depicting a pale, slender young woman with reddish / auburn hair, bearing an striking resemblance to the wedding portrait of Mary Tudor and the Duke of Suffolk, may more accurately portray Mary than Sittow’s Magdalene and noblewoman portraits.
Left: Mary Tudor in her marriage portrait with Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by Jan Gossaert (attributed), c. 1515. Right: Mary Magdalene (believed to be Mary Tudor), by an unknown painter, c. 1520.
So I believe that settles the question.
Why is there this much pushback against Catherine of Aragon being depicting as fair, with reddish-blonde hair and blue eyes? I think that is because portraying her “matronly”, “unattractive” and “swarthy” Spaniard who “did not assimilate” successfully enough, makesHenry VIII’s choice of the youthful, witty Anne Boleyn more justifiable. Except that Henry VIII did not cheat because he found Catalina unattractive; he cheated because he was a cheater. While many people described Catherine as an exceedingly beautiful woman, well-dressed, intellectually curious, kind and regal, and he himself was fond of her for the largest part of their marriage, he also had affairs with lady Elizabeth “Bessie” Blount and Mary Boleyn, just to name a few.
While many Spaniards tend to be brunette and have a slightly more tan complexion than their British peers (like I do, for example), it is just plain ignorant to assume that ALL look that way. In Northern parts of the country, like Asturias or Galicia, you can find fair-skinned people with reddish or blonde hair and green eyes (my grandmother, who comes from a northern region, has green eyes and light chestnut hair, so there’s that). Even if there are an abundance of brunette Spaniards, there are different degrees. To assume that a country as culturally and ethnically rich as Spain can solely be represented by an oversimplified stereotype of Spaniard is more racist than anything this user has accused you of saying.
I love it. Thank you for this
I love you all 💓💓💓
