Hortense de Beauharnais

This charming lady is Hortense de Beauharnais. Her father, a member of an old aristocratic family, had been decapitated during the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionA major social and political upheaval took place in France at the end of the 18th century which became known as the French Revolution. It began in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris. Inspired by Enlightenment ideals, the citizens seized power and threw out the monarchy. In its stead came a citizen's republic with Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as its motto. The ideology of the French Revolution was to have an enormous impact on social and political life in many European countries.. Her mother's second husband was Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1802, Hortense, then 19, married her step-father's brother, Louis. In 1806, Louis Bonaparte was placed on the Dutch throne and Hortense became Holland's first queen. Yet she rarely came to the Netherlands and the marriage was far from happy. This portrait was painted in Paris. It was intended for the Royal Palace on Amsterdam's Dam Square, which Louis made his residence. In fact the King never took delivery of the painting. It remained in the painter's possession and was later sold with the rest of his estate.