Leonora Christine Ulfeldt
was the daughter of Denmark's king Christian IV and his second wife the Noble Kirsten Munk
All pictures that are known of her seem to be copies of each other.
In most portraits she wears a feathered hat and chain upon chains of pearls .
All pictures that are known of her seem to be copies of each other.
In most portraits she wears a feathered hat and chain upon chains of pearls .
It was not unusual that pictures were sent as gifts to other royal relatives .
In order not to make a direct copy the artists changed the clothes a bit and
painted the person in a mirrored position.
But what is very strange is that in some pictures
she is painted as a redhead and in others she has dark brown hair
Some few of the portraits are made under her lifetime but most are made long after she passed away.
For those of you who don't know anything about her.
She was born in Denmark 1621 and died 1698
she had the sad fate to be imprisoned for 22 years,
because of her her husbands treason. We learned about her that she became a victim
between her loyalty towards her husband on count of her loyalty towards her father and country.
For me and other people born on the island Bornholm she is specially important because part of her
rough imprisonment was endured on our majestic ruined Castle Hammerhus.
A place that every inhabitant of the island visit at least once a year.
She is always in our minds when walking on the grass covered castle.
I bring her here in this blog because she had red hair at least the first part of her life.
painted the person in a mirrored position.
But what is very strange is that in some pictures
she is painted as a redhead and in others she has dark brown hair
Some few of the portraits are made under her lifetime but most are made long after she passed away.
For those of you who don't know anything about her.
She was born in Denmark 1621 and died 1698
she had the sad fate to be imprisoned for 22 years,
because of her her husbands treason. We learned about her that she became a victim
between her loyalty towards her husband on count of her loyalty towards her father and country.
For me and other people born on the island Bornholm she is specially important because part of her
rough imprisonment was endured on our majestic ruined Castle Hammerhus.
A place that every inhabitant of the island visit at least once a year.
She is always in our minds when walking on the grass covered castle.
I bring her here in this blog because she had red hair at least the first part of her life.
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| Unknown artist Leonora Christine Mid 1800 century painting |
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| Leonora Christine |
her hair color is lighter and more reddish.
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| Small picture of Leonora Christine |
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| Leonora Christine in a Print 1648 Flora Danica Sim.Paulii |
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| Gerrit van Honthorst Leonora Christine 1647 |
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| Leonora Christine Engraving Look at the two pearls in her hair |
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| Karel van Mander Leonora Christine |
Here she has red hair and extremely long arms.
It is hard to say which of all
the many portraits show her as she was.
On some pictures she seems very short and then on others like this one she is a giant of a woman.
There is another version of this picture where she is pictured with Valdemar Christian
So far I was only able to find it in a black and white photo.
It is hard to say which of all
the many portraits show her as she was.
On some pictures she seems very short and then on others like this one she is a giant of a woman.
There is another version of this picture where she is pictured with Valdemar Christian
So far I was only able to find it in a black and white photo.
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| Karel van Mander |
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| Leonora Christine |
Leonora Christine Ulfeldt
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| Corfitz Ulfeldt and his wife Leonora Christine Again with the same hat feather and Pearls. |
Here under comes portraits o,f Corfitz which all seem to have been painted later on.
It seems the painter used the Engraving as inspiration, since the couple was long dead
Corfitz Ulfeldt also had red hair as you can see in the following picture
It seems the painter used the Engraving as inspiration, since the couple was long dead
Corfitz Ulfeldt also had red hair as you can see in the following picture
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| Corfitz Ulfeldt husband of Leonora Christine |
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| Corfitz Ulfeldt in a Lithography of the painting above. |
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| Corfitz Ulfeldt in a later Lithography |
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| J.Haas Corfitz Ulfeldt |
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| Corfitz Ulfeldt |
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| Corfitz Ulfeldt |
The Danish Painter Kristian Zahrtmann who was born in Rønne
on the island Bornholm, used Leonora Kristine as subject in a many paintings.
Her sad fate made a huge impression on him ,
his mother or Madame Ullebølle posed as models for her.
I remember many of this pictures from my childhood visits to Bornholm's museum.
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Self portrait 1914 |
To this portrait Zahrtman used Karel van Manders as inspiration
But he corrected the long arms and painted her as a beautiful red haired princess.
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Leonora and Corfitz |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Leonora Christine in her cell. Here the ruins of Hammershus must have been in his mind. |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Sketch of Leonora Christine in the jail. |
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| It is said to be a sketch by Kristian Zahrtmann . |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Leonore Christine in her jail |
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| Leonora Christine before Queen Sofie Amalie |
Don't know who made this Lithographic print
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| Queen Sophie Amalie |
This queen was married to Leonora Christine's half brother Frederik III
who ruled Denmark after the death of his father Christian IV.
Here is a picture of the couple when they were younger.
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| Unknown Artist |
Sophie Amalie did not want to release Leonora Christine from prison.
Perhaps she liked the sister in laws pearls too much!
I also speculated if Christian the Fourth on purpose kept his daughter in prison because of
the wealth that he had confiscated from her husband Corfitz Ulfeldt. The money was very much needed
in the states economy which was rapidly shrinking after the costly 30 year War ,which Denmark had part in during 1623-29. I read somewhere that Copenhagen was floated with beggars at this time.
Only when queen Sophie Amalie died , was Leonora finally released.
Zahrtmann painted 2 variations of the death of Sophie Amalie and it is not difficult
to see where his sympathy was lying.
Do compare this 2 pictures to the way he pictured Leonora Christine's death.
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Sophie Amalies death |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Another version of Sophie Amalies death |
Now Leonora finally after 22 years got released from prison.
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| Zahrtmann Sketch for Leonora leaving the prison. |
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| Sketch for Leonora |
So red hair!!!
Leonora leaving the Jail
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| One of Zahrtmanns sculptures |
Kristian Zahrtmann
Another version of Leonora.
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Other sketches of Leonora. Christine |
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| Kristian Zahrtmannn |
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| Leonora Christine's meal |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Leonora Christine in Maribo Cloister. Perhaps she is reading her memoirs? |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann pencil drawing |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Sketch for the picture above, he changed the hands position. |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann |
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| Kristian Zarhtmann Leonora Christine in Maribo Cloister |
It is my belief that Kristian Zartmann must have known Ilya Repin's painting of
Zarevna Sophia Alekseyevna b 1657- 1704 who ruled Russia between 1682 to 1689,
or vice versa . There are too many similarities! The two painters were born 1844 and 1843!
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| Ilya Repin Portrait of Sophia Alekseyevna Russias Ruler 1682-89 |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann |
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| Kristian Zahrtmann Leonora Christines death |
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| Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann Leonora Christine's death |
22 years she was in prison , she later wrote a self biography, called Jammers minde
It was found many years after her death and only published around year 1869.
This is the original Titel page
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| This Book I have about her, it is a much later print. |
First page of Leonora Christine's handwritten self biography from 1673
can be read on the Royal Library of Copenhagen
Leonora Christine's self portrait
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| Pia Ranslet Leonora |
Leonora Christine was in my mind when I painted this portrait.
seeing her as a strong and proud woman with a mixture of arrogance and bitterness.
The red hair I believe she got from her mothers side of the family.
seeing her as a strong and proud woman with a mixture of arrogance and bitterness.
The red hair I believe she got from her mothers side of the family.
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| Portrait of Kirsten Munk the mother of Leonora Christine This portrait of her is an almost exact copy of the portrait below. |
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| Here is Kirsten Munk with her 4 of her 12 children. As you can see Leonora Christine had red hair as a child. Leonora is the smallest girl shown furthest to the right. So this points out that the two first portraits of her in this blog with brown hair are portraits she perhaps never sat for . The Artists perhaps never saw her or an original paintings of her, and could have painted her after an engraving ? On the other hand many red haired women get almost copper brown when they get their children. |
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| Jacob van Doordt Kirsten Munck |
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| Kirsten Munk the mother of Leonora Christine |
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| Kristine Munk |
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| Leonora Christine's grandfather Ludwig Munk He was also red haired You may also like to read conversations about Leonora and her family life on |
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