#royal portraits

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond (died 1788), 1785, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA. Detail. Women Artists

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard: Female Icon of 18th-Century Paris

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was one of the most prominent women artists of the end of the 18th century in Paris. Despite misogynistic policies for...

Jimena Escoto 14 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Queen Mother Idia of Benin

Africa is a beautiful continent filled with sweeping landscapes and mighty rivers. Its history is filled with great kingdoms and large empires. Its...

James W Singer 10 May 2026

History

Rotten Royals: 5 Very Bad Kings from History

Portraits of five regal bad boys. We scratch at the paint on the canvas to find the tyranny, treachery and devilish debauchery behind paintings of rotten royals.

Candy Bedworth 16 April 2026

The Rainbow Portrait Renaissance

Masterpiece Story: The Rainbow Portrait

Queen Elizabeth I is known throughout history as one of the most famous British Queens. Even without a husband, she successfully ruled England for 45...

Anna Ingram 3 April 2026

Long Read

Badass Queens from Classical History

A rollicking adventure through the lives of great leaders and queens from ancient times. Famous female leaders are a fascinating bunch. Here at...

Candy Bedworth, Guest Author 26 March 2026

Renaissance

Rebellious Princess—Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda, Princess of Éboli

“Who is this beauty with an eyepatch?” you may ask. Is she some sort of pirate queen? No, but you are not far from the truth. Ana de Mendoza de...

Joanna Kaszubowska 26 March 2026

Women Artists

Under Royal Protection: 4 Female Court Painters to Know

Throughout history, art has always played an important role in royal propaganda across Europe. Royal families were in a race to employ the best...

Gokce Dyson 23 March 2026

Painting

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey: Unveiling the Life of England’s Nine-Day Queen

Paul Delaroche’s Execution of Lady Jane Grey is a mesmerizing piece that captures the essence and tragedy of one of England’s most ill-fated...

Sabrina Phillips 18 March 2026

Rococo

Queen Marie Antoinette in 10 Portraits

Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France and Navarre before the French Revolution, is renowned for numerous portraits that depict her life.

Zuzanna Stańska 18 March 2026

European Art

Queen Elizabeth I—Portraits of the Last Tudor

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was the only surviving child of King Henry VIII of England and his second wife Anne Boleyn. Being a girl was hard...

Sarah Mills 18 March 2026

Women Artists

Portraying Royalty: High-Profile Subjects of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was one of the most accomplished portraitists of her generation. At the peak of her fame, the doors of the highest European...

Edoardo Cesarino 16 March 2026

Artist Stories

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun Travels Across Europe

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was a French portrait painter working in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. While her subject matter and color palette...

Natalia Iacobelli 16 March 2026