Empress Elisabeth Of Austria (detail), By Franz Russ The Elder, 1860s Or 1870s. Oil On Canvas.

🌸🌷... Magnifique robe du soir, la fin de la Belle Époque... 🌺🌸

Evening Dress

Lucile, 1913

The Victoria & Albert Museum

❝ For the first time in centuries an heir had been born to a reigning emperor, and the ceremony was adorned with all the pomp and circumstance befitting the occasion. We travelled down to Peterhof, where the christening took place … According to Russian custom, the parents never attended a christening. The Emperor came only to the solemn Te Deum after it, so it was the Empress-Dowager who was the chief personage. Gracious and smiling, she slowly walked between rows of curtsying women, with the two eldest daughters [Olga and Tatiana] of the Emperor beside her, holding each other by the hand. Delightful fair-haired little girls of nine and seven, they wore short Court dresses in pink and silver, reaching a little below their knees. They had tiny kakochniks on their heads, the red ribbon of St. Catherine was worn across their shoulders, and each had a miniature diamond star of the order. They had evidently been told to be good on their first appearance in full gala. They were solemn judges, and allowed themselves to relax into a smile only when they passed a group of still smaller children, their two tiny sisters, and several little cousins, standing near a doorway and gazing open-mouthed as the procession passed.

The sponsors were the Empresss Dowager and the Emperor’s eldest daughter, little Grand Duchess Olga. She flushed a deep scarlet, a mixture of pride and shyness, as she was allowed to stand beside her grandmother and hold a corner of the baby’s cushion, as the Empress Marie carried him to the font. ❞

❁ Baroness Buxhoeveden on the roles of Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana Nikolaevnaof Russia  during the christening of their brother, Alexei, in 1905. (Before the Storm by Sophie Buxhoeveden, pg. 238, 240-41)

📷 Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana in their court dresses, as described by the baroness, pictured on the day of Alexei’s christening.

Maximilien, duc en Bavière.. Artiste, fantasque et volage, Sissi avait peut-être une relation plus compliquée avec lui que l'image idéalisée montrée notamment par Ernst Mariska..

Un grand merci à tout le monde pour vos 100 coups de cœur !

🌸 Close up de l'impératrice... Sissi, mal aimée à la cour, se servira de sa beauté pour s'imposer et créer sa légende 🌸

Une merveille de lumière...

"The pain passes, Jean. But the beauty remains"

- RENOIR (2012)

🌹🌺... Marie Valérie, la "chérie", la préférée de Sissi.. Élevée par sa mère, étouffée parfois par l'amour et les angoisses de Sissi, c'est la seule de ses trousse frère et sœurs à avoir reçu l'éducation telle que Sissi la voulait.. 🌹🌺🌹

Elle est devenue impératrice par amour. Elle n'a compris ni son nouveau pays, ni son époque... Sunny a fini martyre.... 🌺💔

Princess Alix of Hesse later Empress of Russia

Élisabeth Feodorovna... Sœur de la tsarine Alexandra, elle mourra elle aussi en 1918, de façon tout aussi atroce... 💔

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, 1887.

Ella, was one of the most beautiful women of her time. Her head was in perfect shape, like a statue, and beautiful features. Her complexion was like rose petals, and she never used make-up or powder. At the ball, she was simply dazzling, always dressed beautifully and wore her wonderful jewelry like no other. I was devoted to her, and throughout all the years that I knew her, she was always the same kind and dear friend. The stay with her in the beautiful country house of her husband, Ilinskoe, near Moscow, was amazing. She did everything so that everyone felt at home. 

Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna (x)