Danish-British Consort Portraiture c.1600—1900

A new book on the fascinating art history of three hundred years of marriage exchange between the royal houses of Denmark and Britain. It focuses on the portraiture of Anna of Denmark (1574-1619), George of Denmark (1653–1708), Louisa of Great Britain (1724–1751), Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751–1775) and Alexandra of Denmark (1844–1925). At the start of this narrative, consort portraiture privileged the status of blood over the perceived 'limitations' of the sitter's gender; astonishing, beautiful imagery resulted. Over the course of the book's chronology, these positions reversed, and gender became utterly defining, with serious consequences for the visuality, validity and public embodiment of women of power in our own contemporary public sphere.