| Show pi huty u au of f Princess 1 in Painting ita to 6 Margarita Chi Child ld I in li the Picture Became Pawn Pa of Europe's t Royal Diplomacy I By ALICE ROHE Written for NEA Service you vau ou look only at the head of the little girl in this fa- fa you will be struck by the modern way her hair j 1 She might be Just any well bred child of your ac- ac rice nce with her fair hair brushed to one side and tied t bow of ribbon But oh oh what a difference No combed those golden locks and no nurse either Only loble l ble blood dared touch her the Infanta Margarita of offer ler Ier father was King Philip her fer mother molher was Marianna I Ferdinand of or Austria's who was betrothed to Prince Carlos of ot last weeks week's porte por- por te ie infanta as t they y called I Sj ij of the royal house of ofIS ofis is born shorn in 1651 At the time Velazquez painted this portrait she was 4 years rears old CHARMING CHILD She was a lovable able charming child and Velazquez ha has brought out inthis inthis in inthis this beautiful painting all the delicacy deli dell delicacy cacy of or her face with its ingenuous I and sweet expression She is dressed In white embroidered in black black- rather somber colors for tor a child The whole picture is in the grayish tone of ot which Velazquez was so fond But how the light on her golden hair shines and what gentleness glows in her small face nce That was one of the rare gifts of the great creat Spanish artist artist to to catch the soul of a R sitter even when it was a little girL His paintings were simple so far tar as ns composition was concerned but they were the more powerful for tor this simplicity There is just a touch of wistfulness in Princess Margaritas Margarita's face which no doubt would have disappeared red l if she could have had a good time like other other other oth oth- er children PLAYMATES PLAY LIMITED What fun could she have in those cumbersome clothes and always surrounded surrounded surrounded sur sur- rounded by the formality of court life me At that time she had no brothers or sisters to pla play with Prince Prosper Prosper Pros per was born a year later and onI only lived four years Her half sister half was old enough to be a companion of her mother molher When she wanted to play she was handicapped too loo by the belie be be- lief lie that no one was good enough to touch her except those of noble blood When Margaritas Margarita's sister Maria Iaria Theresa married Louis XIV of France she dropped a jeweled bracelet A lady picked it up and handed it to her But as the princeS princess could not accept anything from rom the hand of a commoner there was nothing to do but give the bracelet to the finder Which was a bit of good luck for the polite dame even if the custom seems foolish All AU this formality naturally would interfere with games and childish amusements About the only thing Margarita had to make sport of or was the lot of ot dwarfs and monstrosities with which her fathers father's court abounded SENSITIVE KINDLY In spite of ot this cruel habit of laughing at deformities which she was taught to do do Margarita had a 1 sensitive kindl kindly nature In one of Velazquez's most famous paintings i she is the central figure It is called Las Ladies dies in Waiting It shows one of these noble dames kneeling kneel kneel- I i ing and offering her a flagon An An- other oilier noble lady bows obsequiously on her other side while in the foreground foreground foreground fore fore- ground are two hideous dwarfs the dwarfs the fact of accompaniment of the Little princess princess' life The gentle character which quez has revealed in all of the portraits portraits portraits por por- traits he pain painted led of the Infanta Margarita Margarita Mar Mar- garita flowered more fully in her later ater life liCe and made her the joy of her husband When she was 15 years jears old she married married mar mar- ried or one should say she was married married mar mar- ried to her cousin who was also her FORMALITY SURROUNDED HER r r r 1 r i 1 a FY J sr s 1 i al J t c cyr v l yr y v r pr R rf wt 4 ju The Tho Infanta Margarita or of Spain looked like a I. I fairy princess with i I her golden hair and like lily loveliness s. s uncle Emperor Leopold I of Austria Philips Philip's desire to keep Spain Spam and Austria Austria Aus Aus- Austria tria in his family certainly reached an intricate bond in this union Margaritas Margarita's Margaritas Margarita's Margaritas Margarita's Mar Mar- garitas garita's husband was her fathers father's nephew and her mothers mother's brother Children were married in those days for reasons of state NEVER QUESTIONED Margarita was such a docile child she never questioned anything although although al ai- al- al thou though h she must have ha known that her I elder sister now Queen of France Francel I had been intended for Leopolds Leopold's bride until politics interfered Margarita was fond of Leopold and history speaks of her as an ideal wife wile She was the real home type and won the he emperors emperor's love b by her wifely mm mm- An old chronicle says She gained the of her husband husband hus hus- band by her domestic virtues and endearing endearing en en- dearing attentions Her gentleness however however seems to have developed into nto excessive meekness Her frail frai constitution and spiritual nature may have lave accounted in part for her hu hu- hu What time was not spent in waiting on her husband she worked and embroidered covers for altar altarpieces altarpieces p pieces and paraphernalia for the church In this latter her skill equaled her industry The little infanta who became an empress looked like a fairy princess with her golden hair and llly lily-like loveliness And she was as fragile as asa asa asa a flower After bearing her husband three children she gave her life when her fourth child chUd was born She was only 22 years ears old 4 I |
