Catherine the Great: Facial Reconstructions & History Documentary | Royalty Now

Video Description

For all-inclusive, luxury travel to Tudor England, Mary Queen of Scots’ Scotland, or a custom itinerary, use Luxe Euro Tours. Use code “Royalty” for an exclusive 10% discount off your total tour price at www.LuxeEuroTours.com. 0:00 Early Life 11:53 Marriage to Peter 16:11 Catherine's Rise to Power - The Coup 17:26 Catherine as Empress 21:58 What did Catherine the Great Look Like? 23:45 Re-creations Revealed One of my favorite historical figures is Catherine the Great - a minor princess from the Holy Roman Empire with a grand vision, who overthrew her own husband to become Russia’s longest reigning female monarch. But her portraits all show a slightly different face. Which one is true? What did Catherine the Great really look like? We have many stunning portraits of Catherine, from the time she was very young, until nearly the end of her life. But you have to be careful when looking for portraits of the Empress that you’re looking at an original - there are only a few portraits that were made from life, and the rest are copies of these originals. You’ll see her portraits organized into “types” - collections of copies in the same pose that vary slightly in features. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Portraits_of_Catherine_II_of_Russia One of these types - the Rokotov Type - was Catherine’s favorite - stemming from an original coronation portrait by Fedor Rokotov, in profile view. Catherine loved her roman profile - she called this portrait her favorite because it resembled the roman coins of antiquity. She was reigning during the time that images of not just a powerful, but also an enlightened monarch, were becoming popular. It was important to show not just grandeur, but intelligence and sophistication as well, which was accomplished with the profile view. I also really love this state portrait of Catherine painted from life by Vigilius Eriksen - of Catherine in her mid-thirties, which I’ve used for her re-creation. Catherine was a very short woman - only about five feet tall, with natural dark hair and bright blue eyes. While she wasn’t considered particularly beautiful, she was considered very attractive - with her intelligence, passion, and charm. She was often really low key in real life outside of her portraits, preferring simple clothing and hair. I love that she always looks confident, happy, and even slightly amused in her portraits, since most royal portraits look somewhere between neutral and miserable. I find her just a very likeable character. For Catherine’s re-creation, I’ve shown her with her natural dark hair. Find us here: Instagram: @Royalty_Now_ X: @Royalty_Now Tik Tok: @RoyaltyNow Patreon: Patreon.com/RoyaltyNow RoyaltyNowStudios.com This video creation and final image are ©Royalty Now.