The biography of the Romanian queen

Bardovskaya, senior researcher, keeper of the collections “Painting”, “Watercolor” in the meeting of the Tsarskoye Selo painting for a long time attracts a small portrait study of a young elegant lady with a white lily flower, performed on cardboard in a pastel technique with a Latin monogram in the lower left corner and date “98” [1]. Until recently, the monogram was read as a combination of Russian letters “BC”, which did not indicate any of the famous Russian artists.

Also, no information about the origin of the pastel acquired by the museum from a private person in the city on a cardboard sheet is a beautiful young woman with thin faces, with blond hair laid down in an elegant hairstyle. She is dressed in a fashionable and expensive dress of the finest sparkling silk with a transparent lace on the bodice. A narrow waist decorates a belt with a decorative buckle.

In his hand, the lady holds a flower of white lily. She was at ease on the couch, upholstered by the orange-red cloth, turning the clock to the audience as if someone called out to her. The background is outlined with wide strokes of black pastel, which emphasizes the elegance and fragility of the figure. With this technique, the artist shakes the beauty of the model’s head and gives a certain sadness to its image.

A virtuoso, but light and fast manner of execution allows you to see either a preparatory sketch in this work for a large portrait, or a repetition in the pastel technique of a previously written portrait. The image, of course, is executed by the hand of a significant master. Pastel was not a widespread equipment among Russian artists of the second half - the end of the XIX century.

The estimated date indicates the city of the model, undoubtedly representing the character of high light or court circles, led to the famous and fashionable among the European elite to the portraitist Friedrich Augustus von Kaulbach. The virtuoso master of the portrait of Friedrich August von Kaulbach - - a German painter, son of a master of historical painting, studied at the Academy of Arts in Nuremberg by August von Kling and Karl Raut.

At the end of the Academy in the city of Kaulbakh, he was appointed director of the Munich Academy of Arts. His portraits, executed with German photographic accuracy and French grace and lightness, brought the artist fame and orders at many European royal courtyards. Europe was fascinated by his work, especially the images of beautiful ladies, often written in the technique of pastel.

Kaulbach was well known in the Russian court. It is especially close to the Tsarskoye Selo portrait on the technique of execution, the color of the cardboard, the blended black background, the composition and sizes of the pastel portrait of Alexandra Fedorovna in the crown, which is a sketch for the ceremonial portrait of the city on the canvas, its pastel scentes in the style of the elegant French Rococo XVIII century.

A comparison with a monogram on a portrait from Tsarskoye Selo allowed to establish its identity with the reference monograms of the master [3]. Thus, it was possible to attribute the portrait study of a girl with lilies to the works of Friedrich Augustus von Kaulbach. The definition of the author’s name facilitated further attribution. Among the numerous portraits of the master, a group portrait of the daughters of the Duke Alfred Saksen-Koburg-Gotsky and Grand Duchess Maria Aleksandrovna, the daughters of Emperor Alexander II, was discovered.

The portrait was written, possibly, in the city of this whereabouts it is unknown. However, from the memoirs of their daughter Maria it follows that the portrait was in the mansion of the Duke of Alfred for some time in Koburg [4]. A photograph was taken from the picturesque portrait in the atelier of the famous Munich photographer Franz Hanfstanshl Franz Hanfstangl [5], which later in the city of Bulgakov in his album “One hundred masterpieces of art”, indicating the date of G.

The group portrait of Kaulbach depicted four daughters of the Duke of Alfred Koburg and Maria Alexandrovna. The scene represents girls in the park. Two of them in the center of the composition are sitting with flowers on the bench, on the left and right are two other daughters with bouquets in their hands. The eldest daughter Maria sits in the center, leaning her hand on the back of the bench, in the other hand she holds a wreath, Alexander sits next to her.

Maria's gaze turned to Beatrice, who comes on the left with a bouquet in her hands. Victoria-Melita is on the right. A comparison of pastel with a group portrait discovers a complete coincidence with the image of the eldest daughter of Maria - the future Queen of Romania: not only portrait features, but the pose and output of the figure, dress, hairstyle are identical.

The only difference is that in the figure, instead of a wreath, Maria holds white lilies. The identification of the image of Maria in the pastel drawing is confirmed by numerous photographs of the X. Moreover, these and other documentary photographs - GG. Maria Alexander Edinburgh is depicted with sisters who bring her bouquets of flowers, with a wedding wreath in her hands.

The artist captured the happy young princesses during the wedding days of the eldest of them, Mary, who had just turned 18 years old, which was released on January 10, G. Pastel was dated.It can be assumed that the pastel portrait was created by Frederick von Kaulbach for Mary in memory of the happy days of youth based on the group portrait. It is possible that a fashionable and famous artist could receive an order for this study from one of the family members or admirers of its beauty.

The portrait of Maria is one of the wonderful works of the master in the technique of pastel. She was one of the models they favorite. Kaulbach reached the special depth and sonority of tones, strength and beauty of color: the solemn nobility of silver-white in the dress, its overflows. The artist created a wonderful portrait gallery of female images precisely in the technique of pastel-virtuoso and spectacular, combining salonity of style with a mystical-romantic mood.

Its pastors are often made on tinted cardboard, the warm brownish tone of which gave integrity to the color. Maria Alexander Victoria, known as Maria Edinburgh, was the eldest of the four young princesses - the granddaughter of the Russian Emperor Alexander II - on the one hand, and the Queen of Victoria - on the other. All of them were the children of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna - and the Duke of Edinburgh and Koburg Alfred - she received an excellent home education, stood out with a strong independent character, and was an outstanding person.

Her daughters were considered the most beautiful and desired brides of aristocratic Europe. In January, for the first time in history, the Russian imperial dynasty was related to the English royal house. It is believed that marriage was concluded by mutual love - a case is quite rare for dynastic marriages. The newspapers and magazines of St. Petersburg for the city of celebrations began in the Winter Palace, and ended in Tsarskoye Selo, where the newlyweds left after all ceremonies.

In the left wing of the Alexander Palace, 11 living rooms, a special front and separate entrance were converted for them. In the same rooms, after 20 years, another crowned pair of newlyweds - Nikolai and Alexander - the last imperial couple of Russia will live. In March, here, in London, in the fall, their firstborn was born, named after Father Alfred, and then for several years four daughters [9].

He became the ruling Duke of Saxen-Koburg-Gotsky, in connection with which the family moved to Koburg-the capital of a small German duchy. They settled in the newly built Palace of Edinburgh, in the center of the capital of the duchy. The building met all the requirements of civilization of the late XIX century. The living rooms of this house often were their German, English, Russian, French, Spanish, Romanian and Greek relatives.

Home holidays, meetings, engagement took place here. At these family meetings, home conversations often switched to the level of state negotiations, since seekers gathered at secular receptions in the Koburg Palace. With her bright beauty, the eldest of them, Mary, who was nicknamed the Missy family, attracted the attention of others early. There was a considerable circle of fans around her, among whom were her eminent cousins: the youngest son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich Boris -, a lover of all English, and Prince of the Wales - the future English king George V - the hall of the new house decorated with photographs of “Beautiful Missy” [10].

However, close kinship between young people in one and the other case excluded the possibility of marriage. Princess Maria-Missy inherited the charm and beauty of her mother. She was long considered the most beautiful princess of Europe. The marriage of Maria and Ferdinand, contemporaries did not consider it happy: everyone had their own hobbies.

Over time, their relationship came to mutual hostility, which, however, did not prevent them from becoming the parents of six children. Her residence, the control palace donated to her by Ferdinand, was in the suburbs of Bucharest surrounded by the park. The palace was built in a neovizant style, which embodied its passion for the history of Byzantium. The palace sparkled with snow -white marble, carved columns and sculpture.

The forms of the Greek cross were widely used in his decor, which was considered extravagant for a social building. Maria had many different hobbies. She was a gambling rider and at the same time collected painting, giving preference to paintings of the pre -Raphaelites. Maria painted perfectly and was fond of the teaching of the Indian philosopher Krishnamurti, fashionable in the Theosophical circles of Europe, who often visited her residence in Bucharest.

She loved the flowers and raised them and raised them. Maria traveled a lot around the world. In addition, she was endowed with a writer's talent. I released a collection of Romanian fairy tales, legends and songs in English. Children of Europe and America were read out by the tales of her own composition, according to which she herself staged performances and herself played the role of good sorceresses.

Her Peru owns the novel "Dreamer", who made her a laureate of the Romanian Academy, and many other works.Today, perhaps the greatest interest is her memoirs of “The Story of Life” the story of my life, where she describes her stay in the Russian court. Another all -consuming passion of Mary were jewelry that she loved to put on herself immediately in many. She especially loved the pearl-brilliant diadem, crowned with mall-shaped pearls, which inherited her from the mother of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna.

It was the most expensive thing of her collection [11]. According to the tradition of the Russian Imperial Court, the ladies in everyday life constantly wore pearls.