Court dress of a Queen...Pt. 1

In my latest book "Marie Sophie Amalie" (biography of the last queen of Naples) I published how the queen presented herself in public by choosing special "signs" in her gowns and creating her own dress codes: 

Her coronation gown was a "Marientracht" (costume dedicated to the mother of God by using elements and colours which are attributes of the katholic Madonna):

The silk fabric of the coronation gown and train was of a light blue shade, the colour of Saint Mary's purety, decorated with white lace formed like clouds - reminiscent of heaven - and with pink dahlia - a symbol for love in the European flower language of the 19th century - signifying the queen's love for her land and people.

Picture 1: Coronation gown, Naples 1859

 

Later, when Queen Marie and her husbend were exiled, her Parisian ball gown had a design which immediately recalled her coronation gown repeating the element of cloud-like lace and - instead of  dahlia - pink roses which reminded her love for Naples and her lost people:

Picture 2: Ball gown, Paris 1865

 

Another court dress was her Neapolitan "Tarantella" gown, which was created in style of the traditional folk dance Tarantella. It shows the cordial bond and solidarity of the Queen with her Sicilian people:

Picture 3: Queen Marie in her Neapolitan dress anno 1860 by Camilo Guerra.

 

For our concerts presenting Susan Oswell's cantata "The heroine of Gaeta" I made an exact replica of Queen Marie's Tarantella gown. My next post will discover the new replica and its accesoires.

Picture 4: First detail of my replica. The Parisian brooch is very similar to the original.

 

 

Picture 1: wikimedia commons

Picture 2: Private collection

Picture 3: wikimedia commons

Picture 4: Private collection