The Face of Eleanor of Aquitaine (Photoshop Reconstruction)

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• published: 26 Sep 2011
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PRINTS NOW AVAILABLE! http://www.cafepress.com/maludwigworks *Project requested by user/WinefrideofWales She was one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages. As the daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine, the duchess (born 1122?) received a first-class education and was brought up in one of Europe's most aristocratic courts. The duchess became an heiress at the age of 15 after the death of her only brother and her father in 1137. Eleanor married Louis VII of France that same year and in the course of time bore him two daughters. Despite this, their marriage was fraught with problems, which was compounded by the fact that Louis was determined to have a son as an heir. Five years after Louis's failed crusade to Constantinople and Jerusalem, he and Eleanor divorced in 1152. Surprisingly rapidly (at least to modern eyes) Eleanor married Henry of Anjou only two months after the divorce to Louis VII. Henry was soon crowned King of England in 1154, and with Eleanor at his side became father to three daughters and five sons in all over the next 20 years. Eleanor was very much involved in the running of Henry's empire, making frequent trips between their estates in England and France. Disaster struck in 1173 when two of Eleanor's sons involved her in a scheme against their father, Henry, which Henry caught onto and had Eleanor subsequently imprisoned. She had to wait until Henry's death in 1189 for her son, Richard I, to order her release. Afterwards, Eleanor continued to embroil herself in government matters, even though she was in her 60's, which for the times was considered very elderly. When her son Richard I went off on the Third Crusade, she acted as regent in his absence, and was ultimately involved in negotiations for his release after he was taken captive by German forces on the way home. Years later, after Richard's death in 1199, Eleanor and her youngest son, John, succeeded him, though Eleanor's activities in English affairs had altogether ceased by then as she turned her attentions to matters in Aquitaine where she spent the rest of her life, which expired on March 31, 1204. She was buried in the abbey church at Fontevrault beside Henry II. (source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/eleanor_of_aquitaine.shtml) *While I'm aware that the appearance I've given Eleanor in terms of age is nowhere near the range of her actual age at the time of her death (neither is her effigy, for that matter), her beauty was legendary for quite some years, and I thought best to illustrate that by showing her in her prime. *There is no real description of what features made Eleanor beautiful. Some artwork during that time showed images that represented her only in context, rather than appearance. Those drawings suggested that she had light brown or "fawn" colored hair. Other accounts considered her to be a "contemporary beauty", which during the fads of that time would suggest light skin, a prominent forehead, defined chin, sparse eyebrows, and full cheeks.