thebeautiesofthepast

Short life stories of inspiring women and their portraits.

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Mary Beale

A Self Portrait by Mary Beale, baroque, circa 1666

Mary Beale, née Cradock, (bapt. 26.03.1633 - bur. 08.10.1699) was the daughter of the rector John Cradock and his wife, Dorothy Brunton. Her mother died when she was ten years old. Not a lot is known about her youth other than her having gotten a new guardian during the Civil War.

When she was eighteen years old, she married Charles Beale. He helped her a great deal during her time as a painter, such as being her studio manager, pigment mixer. They were described as working mostly equally. She had three sons, of which two survived.

Taking great care to build up a respectable reputation was her sensible choice of portrait sitters. Clergymen, various members of the nobility and even Queen Henrietta Maria wished to be painted by her.

Mary died at the age of sixty-five. She was buried in St James' Church in Picadilly, where her tomb was destroyed in the Blitz of the Second World War.

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Mary Sackville

A Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, baroque

Lady Mary Compton (1669-06.08.1691) was the daughter of James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northhampton and The Honorable Mary Noel.

Mary married Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset. They had two children together; a son, Lionel Canfield Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset and a daughter, Lady Mary Sackville.

She died at age 22 of Smallpox.

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Natalia Alexeievna

A Portrait by Alexander Roslin, 1776, rococo

Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (25.06.1755 - 26.04.1776) was the daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken. She had been brought up under the strict supervision of her mother and was known for her temperament, outstanding mind and strong character.

When Wilhelmina was seventeen years old, Empress Catherine II decided that her son, Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich should marry her or one of her sisters, even if she was quite displeased with that choice. She sent an invitation to the girls and their mother to come and visit her in Russia.

There, the minute Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich had laid eyes on her, he was in love and so Wilhelmina converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took up the name Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna. They married in 1773. After a few years at court, where she stood out like a sore thumb for refusing to speak Russian, intriguing against her mother-in-law and being a steadfast believer in liberal ideas, she became pregnant.

Her labour lasted five days, after which she delivered a stillborn son and died as well, aged 20. There were rumours that Catherine II killed her by not letting doctors intervene but it was shown that she suffered from scoliosis of the spine, with which it would have been impossible to give birth naturally.

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Hedvig Sophia of Sweden

A portrait by David von Krafft, date unknown, baroque

Hedvig Sophia Augusta of Sweden, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, (26.06.1681 - 22.12.1708) was the daughter of Charled XI of Sweden and Ulrike Eleonore of Denmark. She spent most of her upbringing with her grandmother, Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp.

Hedvig has been described as being a good student, particularly in art, being dignified, beautiful and passionate. It is also known that her father spent more money on her than he would have done on other things or people.

As with a lot of historical women, her marriage was an arranged one. Her Husband, Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, was infamous for his debauchery even before they married. This continued even after she moved to Gottorp, which enraged her so much that she returned to Sweden.

When she became Widowed, she stayed more or less permanently in Sweden, where she was known as the “Happy Princess" due to her beauty and personality. When her son became ill with smallpox, she nursed him through it and caught it herself.

She died in Stockholm aged 27. She had been temporarily interred and finally buried in 1716 because the court was worried that her funeral would be too Expensive for Sweden after the war.

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Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia

A portrait by Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1796, rococo

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia, Hereditary Princess of Mecklenburg (24.12.1784 - 24.09.1803) was the daughter of the future Tsar Paul I of Russia and Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg. She had been named after Helen of Troy and mainly educated in feminine subjects, such as music, art and literature.

She was closest to her sister Alexandra, who almost had the same life planned for her as Elena had had. She had an arranged marriage to the Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. They married in Russia in 1799 when she was just fifteen years of age.

Elena went on to give birth to two children; a boy, Paul Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and a daughter, Marie Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. It has been said that her marriage was a happy one.

A month after falling gravely ill, she died in Ludwigslust, Mecklenburg-Schwerin at the age of 18.

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Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales

A portrait by George Dawe, 1817, classical portrait

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (07.01.1796 - 06.11.1817) was the daughter of King George IV and Caroline of Brunswick. Her childhood has been an unhappy one, due to fact that her parents couldn’t stand each other and that her Father would have rather had a son. It went so far, that Caroline was not allowed to visit Charlotte without supervision. She also had no say in her upbringing.

Charlotte was regularly used as a pawn by her parents. When the future King decided to move in with his mistress - Maria Fitzherbert, about whom I have also written about - he moved his daughter next door, her only companions being the people that were paid to be with her. She was known to have been a big tomboy in her youth. She had been very well educated, as it was expected that she would one day become Queen. Charlotte greatly enjoyed playing the piano.

In her adolescence, Charlotte was a rebel, which her Father also had been. He did not take too kindly to her also rebelling, so he imposed very heavy and strict rules upon her. She had to sit at the very end of the opera - a circumstance which infuriated a lot of the court, which allowed her to be herself and hid her secrets from her father.

She married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1816. At the End of 1817, it became known that Charlotte was pregnant. People started betting on the gender of the child and the was a public frenzy about the new royal child.

Her birth was a very difficult one and she gave birth to a stillborn son. On the evening of the birth, she collapsed and died a the tender age of 21, which shocked the entire Nation.

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Praskovia Saltykova

A portrait by Ivan Nikitin, early 18th century, parsuna style

Praskovia Fyodorovna Saltykova (12.10.1664 - 13.10.1723) was the daughter of Fyodor Petrovich Saltykov and Yekaterina Fyodorovna Tatishcheva.

Not much is known about her early life. Her marriage to the co-Tsar Ivan V had been arranged by his sister, Sophia. At that time Russian had been ruled by two tsars; Peter (later known as Peter the Great) and the feeble-minded (or mentally disabled) Ivan V. By marrying Praskovia to Ivan, Sophia wanted to make sure that Peter would not be able to rule, should their union produce a male heir.

She was the last tsaritsa to have been chosen through the 'parade of potential candidates', where the Tsar could choose one of about a dozen brides. She had been described as being a tall russian beauty with long, thick hair and a full figure. She was known to have been religious and due to her lacking education, also as superstitious.

Her marriage with Ivan V only produced daughters, so that when he died, she retired from Peter the Great's court. They were known to have had a good relationship. She enjoyed the western culture and gave her daughters a western education and often attended parties, theaters and gambled.

She died at age 59 of ill-health and hers was the first Imperial funeral in St. Petersburg.

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Catalina Micaela of Spain

A portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1577-78, renaissance

Catalina Micaela of Spain (10.03.1585 - 06.11.1597) was the daughter of Philip II and Elisabeth of Valois. She had a good relationship with her father and her sister. She was described as bein intelligent, beautiful and aware of her high-born status.

She married Duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy at age 18 and went to live with him in Turin. She was greatly appreciated for her diplomatical and political skill. She had ten children and died because of a miscarriage at age 30.

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Anne Catherine Constance Vasa

A portrait by Frans Luyckx, 1640, baroque

Anne Catherine Constance Vasa (07.08.1619 - 08.10.1651), was the daughter of Sigismund III Vasa and Constance of Austria.

She was a rich bride and married Prince William (later known as Philip William, Elector Palatine) and only had one son, who died on the same day of his birth. Not much is known about her.

She died in Cologne at age 32.

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Henriette Catherine of Nassau

A portrait by Johannes Mythens, 17th century, baroque

Countess Henriette Catherine of Nassau (10.02.1637-03.11.1708) was the daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels.

Henriette married John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau at age 22. They had 10 children. She was known to be a lover of painting, agriculture, architecture and construction of ports.

When her Husband died, she became regent of their Son. During that time she founded a refuge home for children and women and made sure that there was a system for the care of orphans.

She died at the Age of 71.

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Caroline of Brunswick

A portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1804, romanticism

Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick (17.05.1768-07.08.1821) was the daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Augusta of Great Britain.

Her youth was a diffictult one, due to the fact that her parents hated each other, so much as she later said that whenever she was civil to one of them , she was scolded by the other. Her education was not the best one. She was described as being an attractive girl with curly, fair hair who was witty, handsome and playful.

She was being severely restrtricted, so much so that she was banned from attending balls and when she was allowed to go to one, she was not allowed to dance. This went on so far that she simulated giving birth and when her parents came to see what was happening, she stopped simulating and demanded that she be let to visit balls.

In 1795 she married the Prince of Wales. He only agreed to marry her because he was heavily in debt and was promised that his debts would be paid off if he married her. She said that he was fat and looked nothing like his portrait.

They had one legitimate child, and after that she was inestigated for adultery, had her visits to her daughter shortened and supervides, after which she had fled england. She returned later and saw that she was still widely popular among her subjects, unlike her husband. She died at age 53 from either cancer, an intestinal obstruction or poison.

Her funeral procession was enormous and officers came shooting and hacking into the masses so that they would dissipate.

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Sophia of Hanover

A portrait by Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate, ca. 1644, baroque

Sophia of Hanover (16.10.1630-08.06.1714) was the daughter of Frederick V of the Palatinate and Elizabeth Stuart.

In 1668, she married Ernest Augustus, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She was known to have been a very curious and highly intelligent woman. She had seven children.

Because she was the only legitimate (and protestant) pretender to the British throne, she was given the choice to be the Queen of Great Britain. She did not succeed in that, but her son, the future George I. of England and so the Georgian era of Great Britain would begin.

She died at age 83, where she ran to shelter from the rain, where she collapsed and died.

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Anna Pavlovna

A portrait by Jean Chretien Valois, 1845, romanticism

Anna Pavlovna of Russia (18.01.1795-01.03.1865) was the daughter of Paul I. of Russia and Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg. She received a good education and was a talented painter.

At the age of 21, she married the future King William III. She had difficulties adjusting to the Netherlands, due to the fact that the social classes were not as strictly divided as in Russia at the time.

Her marriage was a complicated one; she always thought of her Husband to be of an inferior Rank and he was an adulterer. She was very charitable, opening a hospital, founding more than fifty orphanages and supported mother foundations.

She always upheld court etiquette and did not involve herself in politics. After her husband died, she lived a private life and died at age 70.

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Mary Capel

A portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1692, baroque

Mary Capel, Countess of Essex (1698-1714) was the daughter ocf William Bentnick, 1st Earl of Portland and Anne Villiers.

Her portrait is a part of the Hampton Court Beauties - portraits of beautiful Women on display in Hampton Court Palace.

She married twice and had three children. Not much is known about her. She died aged 16, which I personally find quite sad.

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Catherine Braganza

A portrait from the Studio of Jacob Huysmans, ca. 1670, baroque

Catherine of Braganza (23.04.1638-06.02.1705) was the daughter of John, the 8th Duke of Braganza (King John IV of Portugal) and Luisa de Guzman. She had a happy childhood and had a good education but due to the fact that her mother sheltered her enourmously, contemporaries said that she 'was bred hugely retired'.

She married Charles I. of England at age 23. Their marriage was far from perfect, as it was more than clear that Charles loved his mistresses more than her. Even though he was a philanderer, every time she miscarried he was kind and did not tolerate any slander towards her.

Even if the british subjects were wary of her in the beginning, the shy, quiet and loyal Catherine soon became very popular. She abhorred Barbara Palmer (a mistress) but liked Louise de Kerouaille (the next mistress) because she showed respect and deference.

In 1678 there was the 'Popish' plot, a plot that had the goal to remove her from court and have Charles I. divorce her. That did not happen because most people in the nobility were very fond of her. She lived through William and Mary's reign and returned to Portugal, where she died at age 67 in Bemposta Castle in Lisbon.

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Amalie Adlerberg

A portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1828, neoclassicism

Countess Amalie Maximilianovna Adlerberg, (16.06.1808-21.06.1888) was the illegitimate daughter of Maximilian-Emmanuel Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg and Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She grew up with her mother's relatives, moved closer to her mother and was at last taken care of by the Lerchenfeld family.

Her first suitor, russian poet Fyodor Tyutchev, was completely enamored by her and there are multiple poems dedicated to or inspired by Amalie. She married a diplomat named Baron Alexander von Krüdener. Her beauty captivated King Ludwig I. of Bavaria, who ordered that her painting should be added to his Gallery of Beauties at Nymphenburg Palace.

Her husband received a promotion and so the couple moved to St. Petersburg. There she spread Tyutchev's poems and gained many admirers, such as Alexander Pushkin, Count Alexander von Beckendorff, Nicholas I. and many more.

At 40 years of age, she bore a son out of wedlock, her husband died and she married Count Nikolay von Adlerberg. During the Crimean War, she set up an Orphanage with her own money. Later, the couple moved to Helsinki.

After Alexander II.'s assissination, the couple moved to Munich, were Amalie died a few days adter her 80'th birthday.

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Mary Tudor, Queen of England

A portrait by Master John, 1544, Renaissance

Queen Mary I Tudor (18.02.1516-17.11.1558) was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She was the only surviving child of Catherine of Aragon, which was a reason why Henry VIII divorced her mother and converted the country into Protestantism under the Church of England.

As a teenager, she often suffered from irregular periods and depression, due to the fact that she was almost a bastard, now that her mother was banished from court. She had a bad relationship with her father, because she refused to acknowledge the fact that Anne Boleyn was Queen and Elizabeth, her half-sister, was legitimate.

When she reached adulthood, she reconciled with her Father. No marriages were formed then. During the reign of her younger half-brother, King Edward VI, she lived away from court and often argued with him over faith.

Almost as soon as she ascended onto the throne, she married Prince Philip of Spain. She suffered from multiple false pregnancies and had, ultimately, no issue. She received the nickname 'Bloody Mary' from how harshly she treated/persecuted everyone that was not a Roman Catholic.

At 42, she thought that she was pregnant again, which was false. She dies, probably of ovarian cysts or uterine cancer.