Queen Louise of Prussia
and
neoclassical images of female power
and
neoclassical images of female power
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| Prinzessinnengruppe by J.G. Schadow, Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Photo source: Web Gallery of Art
- coming soon to mark the anniversary of the birth of Louise,
SISTERS EMBRACING Back view of Schadow's sculpture of two young German princesses: standing on the right, the taller Louise (1776 - 1810), married to the crown prince, later king Frederick William III of Prussia, and her younger sister, Frederica (1778 - 1841), who at the time was married to his younger brother. The elder sister was mytholigized as the Prussian Madonna, a national saviour incarnating the virtues of the perfect wife and mother during the war against Napoleon, while the younger, longer-lived, and three-times married sister had a scandalous reputation amid rumours of adultery and murder, the latter allegation being unsubstantiated. |
