ArtSmarts
The Bavarian Rose — Empress Sissi. Ceremonial Portraits, Drama, Life
If Elizabeth of Bavaria really posed for every artist who preserved her image for history, she would have spent most of her life doing this. But the beautiful Sissi, the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, was panicky afraid to grow old and lose her attractiveness. Therefore, after 35 years, she almost did not take pictures, and there are probably few portraits painted from life later than this period. All of her later images are believed to be retouched photographs taken at a young age. The Bavarian Rose (she was from Bavaria) was painted by many artists, one of them, Franz the Magnificent, as they called Winterhalter, made the most famous portrait of the Empress Sissi.