The Ugly Duchess

Ok, I am having waaay too much fun transcribing for an art history class. It is just so fascinating!! So I have decided to include a little art history moment in my blog to edumacate the masses (or the two or three people who read this). Today is…..

The Ugly Duchess

Try to imagine the effect this has in a darkened room, on an enlarged projector screen. Wow. I was horrified, and yet fascinated at the same time. I didn’t want to continue staring, but I couldn’t stop.

No one is sure who this is, but rumor has it, she was the inspiration for the duchess drawings in Alice In Wonderland.



Researchers have now determined she was suffering from a very rare form of Paget’s disease, a disease which gradually enlarges and shrinks bones, deforming them. Usually it affects people’s hips and lower body, but this woman is unusual in that it affected her face instead.

This picture is mostly thought to be a commentary on the efforts of older people to look young and youthful, taken to the ridiculous. Notice the low cut dress, displaying a rather wrinkly bosom. She is holding a rosebud, which is a symbol of youthfulness.

In the end, I find myself extremely curious about who she is. Did she go out in public? How did she feel about the hand fate had dealt her with this disease? Quite probably this didn’t develop until she was older. If I were going solely off of the artist’s interpretation, I would say she was quite intelligent and made the most of her life. I could almost imagine her making jokes about this painting.

In the end, I love this painting, but… I wouldn’t necessarily hang it in my house.