‘The Rose and Lily Queen’: Henrietta Maria’s fair face and the power of beauty at the Stuart court

Abstract

AbstractThe marriage of Henrietta Maria (1609–69) and Charles I (1600–49) was presented in literature and prints as the joining of the ‘lily’ (France, the queen) and the ‘rose’ (England, the king). Harnessing these floral analogies, this article examines how Henrietta Maria’s fair face was invested with social, political and medical import, and as such was widely cultivated and enhanced through physic, sartorial choices and painted representations. Her skin texture and colouring were considered a mirror of her dynastic pedigree, marital status and good health. The white and red palette of the lily and the rose were intrinsic to longstanding ideals of facial colouring, and to youthful bloom and fertility. This colouring was marshalled by painters such as Anthony van Dyck in her portraits, and strategically deployed through her clothing. Her physician, Theodore de Mayerne, also provided her with prescriptions to clean, smooth and restore her face. As such, the queen’s facial skin functioned as a mirror of her quality, a paradigm of health and a canvas for artists, wardrobe specialists and physicians to cultivate and highlight her natural beauty. The analysis is built on a range of primary sources including treatises, wardrobe accounts, herbals and cosmetic recipes.