In this episode, I put my art history degree to good use (finally) as we discuss a lesser-known portrait of Elizabeth I as she appeared late in the reign of her sister, Mary I, or early in her own reign. Painted in the image of her father, Henry VIII, Elizabeth is trying to communicate many things to many people all at once in this image. How can a single portrait represent her desire to overcome the struggles of her youth and be taken seriously as a pious, powerful female monarch?

Today's Image: English School, Queen Elizabeth I (“The Hever Portrait” or “The Chawton Portrait”) (1558). Oil on Panel. Hever Castle.

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This episode has everything: snakes, missing limbs, a true crime case, and sculptor Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni being annoyed.

Today’s artwork: Agesander of Rhodes, Athenodoros, and Polydorus (attr.), Laocoön and His Sons (Hellenistic Period?). Marble. Vatican Museums, Vatican City.

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The depiction of Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) as a woman of color in the Netflix series Bridgerton brought her to the forefront of a conversation about non-white historical figures. There’s been much debate over this Georgian queen’s character as a result. Was Queen Charlotte that formidable? And was she really mixed race? Much of the speculation over Charlotte’s ancestry comes from interpretations of Sir Allan Ramsay’s portraits of her, in which her features are, in one historian’s words, “conspicuously African.” We’ll examine the actual historical evidence that addresses Queen Charlotte’s background, but we’ll also try and get to know the woman behind all the spectacle and rhetoric. So, will the real Queen Charlotte please stand up?

Today’s artwork: Sir Allan Ramsay, Queen Charlotte (1762). Oil on canvas. Royal Collection Trust, U.K.

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Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s (1732-1806) painting The Swing is an icon of the Rococo era and a widely-celebrated depiction of innocent, carefree leisure. Or...is it? We’re unpacking some of the, er, erotically charged symbols that you might have missed when you first saw this painting in Disney’s Frozen. Listener discretion is advised for this episode, unless you’re a parent who is prepared to get really cool about some adult themes very quickly.

Today's Image: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Les hasards heureux de l'escarpolette (The Happy Hazards of the Swing) (1767). Oil on Canvas, 81 x 64.2 cm. Wallace Collection, London.

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In 1872, Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) visited the photography studio of one William H. Mumler (1832-1884), who claimed to be able to capture images of deceased loved ones on film. A byproduct of Mrs. Lincoln's spiritualist beliefs, the photograph on which today's episode centers offers us a glimpse at the strange practices which Civil War-era Americans would resort to in their efforts to find comfort and solace in the wake of death and tragedy. 

Today's Image: William H. Mumler, “Mary Todd Lincoln,” (1872). Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, Allen County Public Library. Fort Wayne, Indiana.

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Jules Bastien-Lepage's life-size depiction of Joan of Arc (1412-1431) shows her at the very beginning of her journey to sainthood. But a lot happened between her spiritual awakening in 1425 and her canonization as the patron saint of France in 1920. So, how did she get there? And how was her image molded by the national and spiritual needs of a nation?

Today's image: Jules Bastien-Lepage, Joan of Arc (1879). Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 

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In the mid-1770s, the Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793) commissioned a portrait of his two great-nieces, Elizabeth Murray (1760-1825) and Dido Belle (1761-1804). But it was Elizabeth's name that would be remembered through history, and Dido's would only be rediscovered in the 1990s. In this episode, we discuss her origins, her position in her great-uncles stately home, and how she is portrayed in the only known Neoclassical portrait depicting a black woman and a white woman as equals. 

Today's image: David Martin, Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray (ca. 1778). Oil on canvas. Scone Palace, Scotland. 

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Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793) was a giant of the French Revolution. I guess you could say that one thing led to another, though, and he ended up dead in a bathtub. His friend, artist Jacques-Louis David (1748-1845), memorialized that gruesome event in today's artwork and in the process, spun the narrative to better serve their shared political aims.

Today's image: Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat (1793). Oil on canvas. Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium.

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Our popular image of Queen Victoria (1819-1901) paints her as a monarch, a mother, a wife, and a widow. But today we are looking at a portrait of Victoria that shows us the woman, not her roles. Join me for a bit of historically sanctioned snooping into the hidden side of Victoria, her relationship with her hubby, and their love language of choice. 

Today's image: Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Queen Victoria (1843). Oil on canvas. Royal Collection Trust, United Kingdom.

New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! 

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Join me for episodes from history, viewed through great works of art. No pre-reqs required!