This is a famous portrait of The Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sissi. It was painted in 1865 by the german artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter, who painted her a couple of times. Winterhalter used to apply the brushwork, which was influenced by the Romantic style. In the 1860s, women were expected to not only be exemplary mothers, but also to have great fashion sense. Through their fashion, women became the 'mirror' of their husbands. T he more embellishments and jewelry a woman wore suggested the higher status they had, so it became the woman's role to show her husband's social position through her extravagant dresses. In this portrait, Sissi is wearing an evening ball gown. The double crinoline skirt was very much in fashion at that time. In her hands, she is holding a fan, which was also an indispensable fashion accessory for middle and upper class women. Sissi's head is crowned with her large braids seemingly to a diadem, and decorated with diamond pin...
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