Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Victorian Eye Portraits....Creepy or Cool?

In my upcoming novel, Treasured Lies, two very important clues are found along with a pair of eye portraits. These portraits have an interesting history - the story of their rise in popularity generally stems from the illicit love affair (and secret marriage) of King George IV (when he was Prince of Wales) and Maria Fitzherbert. As he couldn't flaunt a portrait of his secret wife before the court and his politically recognized wife, Princess Caroline, Maria had a miniature portrait painted showing only her eye. This way, George could keep her portrait with him and no one could really say who it was depicting.

I find the concept of the eye portrait very intriguing and romantic. And some of them are quite beautiful. But some are....well, just a little creepy :)




I think it's the ones showing only the eye that creep me out a little. As long as the brow at least is included, they aren't too bad :)

What do you think? Romantic? Cool? Or creepy?

2 comments:

Liza said...

I've never heard of these. What a neat detail to add to your story. For some reason the bracelet really creeps me out!

Katrina L. Lantz said...

I love this detail in your story. Regency lit is so educational! :) Yeah, the blue background one creeps me out, but the pearl-encased ones are beautiful.