While I have not specified which empress this is in the title, she was actually the Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi or Cixi (1835-1908) and one of the most formidable of figures. According to King’s College, she ‘was famed for her beauty and charm’.
These were not the least of her qualities, apparently, since she ‘was power hungry, ruthless and profoundly skilled in court politics’, rising from the middle class of Manchu society to become a concubine of Emperor Hsien-Feng and the only one to bear him a son. It is not surprising to learn that she could as easily be a great friend as a terrible enemy.
My first impression of the Children’s Encyclopaedia reproduction, which was from an oil painting done in 1906, was of a woman one had better not cross swords with and how right I was! Her story is fascinating and well worth reading.
Many old images are divine as they stand but sometimes I yearn to change them and that was the case with Tzu-Hsi. By giving the picture an underlay of green marble scanned from the endpaper of the encyclopaedia (as above) and a layer of creamy yellow, I have softened the overall effect and made the image more pleasing to the eye — well, my eye, at least!
Take care and keep laughing!
First Night Design 
What a striking image!
LikeLike
I’m so glad you like it.
LikeLike
I love the image and enjoyed reading about her…thank you so much:)
LikeLike
My pleasure! Thank you for commenting.
LikeLike
I read about her in Flashman and the Dragon. Have you read those stories? Good fun, racy and bang on historically, apparently. Love your pictures
LikeLike
I haven’t read those stories, no; going on the reading list immediately! Thank you the compliment!
LikeLike
Wonderful, rich image. I like both the encyclopedia version and your version for different reasons.
Okay, I’ll take a sofa or chaise lounge upholstered in your version with a couple of pillows in the other…(-:
LikeLike
🙂 Now that, Sherry, is the perfect combination!
LikeLike
I have to say, I struggled to see the beauty, but she certainly looked pretty formidable and not to be messed with
LikeLike
Quite!
LikeLike
I remember seeing a film about her life in China, she scared the living daylights out of me even when was dead. The film showed all the scheming, plots, knocking off rival concubines, killing people in all sorts of different ways. We Westerners were cringing but the Chinese in the audience lapped it up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Somebody to avoid, methinks! Thanks for visiting.
LikeLike