Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Catarina de Bragança


Sculpture by Audrey Flack at Parque das Nações, Lisbon

Princess Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), Portuguese King John IV's daughter, became queen when she married King Charles II of England. She was not a particularly popular choice of queen since she was a Roman Catholic, which prevented her from being crowned. Catherine is credited with the introdution of tea drinking to Britain.  
Do read this interesting article on the controversy regarding her statue in Queens,
New York.

15 comments:

ArtandArchitecture-SF.com said...

Interesting and typically American story of controversy over public art.

Your Queen looks as though she needs a bit of a cleaning, but at least you get to enjoy her.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

She certainly was a very controversial royal JM...still if she enjoyed a good cuppa tea she couldn't have been all bad :)

Judy said...

I like the way you have composed this. Just beautiful.

VP said...

Love the sculpture and your excellent juxtaposition with the modern bridge. Can't really understand why they didn't place the statue in Queens: to check historical credentials of monuments, with a few blatant exceptions, is a really silly exercise...

Karl said...

What a great composition!

RedPat said...

Love the pic, JM! There is always so much controversy in the world.

Margaret said...

I always like the dark sculpture images against a light background. (Nice bridge!)

Sylvia K said...

I love the sculpture, too, and what a terrific capture for the day. Really interesting article and she was indeed controversial -- at least in Queens!!

Lowell said...

I have never heard of Princess Catherine and could probably have finished out my life without a problem. But now I'm kinda worried as to how she'll be remembered in Queens, NY. And because she started this business of tea drinking when coffee is still available...well, I think it best if I say no more except that tea drinking is for people who don't go fishing.

I'm kidding! But queens and kings and princesses and other assorted mucky-mucks no longer impress me, if they ever did.

How they came to be such is simply the luck of the draw, anyway.

Having said all that, I do like this statue except her hair is too curly. Parque das Nacoes, Lisbon, is a fantastic place!

Sharon said...

It's not always a piece of cake to be a Queen and poor Catherine is a perfect example. I hope she at least had a fairly happy life. As happy as it can be when you are traded off to the monarch of a foreign country. She certainly stirred up a lot of controversy in the "new world" centuries after her death.

TexWisGirl said...

interesting sculpture, too!

cieldequimper said...

You have chosen a wonderful angle for your shot!

Halcyon said...

This statue probably does not increase her popularity. She looks a bit like Medussa!

Randy said...

Nice composition.

Cezar and Léia said...

Impressive sculpture and you got a fabulous composition with the bridge!
Léia