Beauty from the victorian era to the 1930’s
Really interesting video, and the lady talking is marvellous! It’s odd to think that in the space of about 40 years the beauty ideal went from pale as could be, without a scrap of makeup…to bright red lipstick being all the rage!
Beauty: Elizabeth Alexeievna
Beholder: Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun
‘Judging from her portraits and the written descriptions of her by contemporaries, Elizabeth was an exceptionally beautiful woman. Beauty and charm are all the hallmarks of almost all Russian empresses, but popular opinion puts that she is the most beautiful of the last five empresses-consort of Russia. No wonder why many poets, writers and musicians throughout Elizabeth’s lifetime dedicated their works to her…’
Beauty: Elizabeth Alexeievna
Beholder: Vladimir Borovikovsky
Beauty: Portrait of Elizabeth Alexeievna 1793
Beholder: Unknown
Beauty: Elizabeth Alexeievna
Beholder: Unknown
Elizabeth Alexeievna was distinguished by a soft, melodious voice, and a beautiful oval face, with delicate features, a Greek profile, large almond-shaped blue eyes and curly ash blond hair, which she usually left floating on her shoulders. With an elegant figure, regal carriage and a beautiful angelic face, she was regarded by contemporaries as one of the most beautiful women in Europe and probably the most beautiful consort at that time.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Bijinga (美人畫), (lit., “beautiful person picture”) is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre, which predate photography.
(Source: Wikipedia)
A beauty adjusting her lamp
Signed Kochoro Kunisada
Beauty: ‘True Beauties’
Beholder: Toyohara Chikanobu
‘True Beauties, illustrated by Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912), contains delicately hued portraits of a host of “modern” Japanese women who thrived in the new and changing world three decades into the Meiji era (1868-1912).’
