Dona Isabel, Princess Imperial

Dona Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil (1846-1921), daughter of Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa Cristina. Became her father’s heir upon the deaths of her two brothers as young children. Married Prince Gaston of Orléans, comte d’Eu in 1864 and had three sons, taking a greater interest in domesticity and child-bearing than in affairs of state. Signed the law abolishing slavery in Brazil in 1888, a widely popular move that nonetheless cost the Emperor the support of slave-owners, during her third and final stint as regent. Went into exile in Europe in 1889, when her father was overthrown by a military coup, taking up permanent residence in France.

Figure 2.1. José Irineu de Souza, Portrait of Princess Isabel, 1886, oil on canvas, 22 x 28 cm, Museu Imperial, Petrópolis, source: Google Arts & Culture.

1870s

Princess Isabel’s court dress

Instituto Feminino da Bahia is home to Princess Isabel’s historic court dress, which she wore for two major events in her life: firstly, to take the oath as Regent of the Empire of Brazil in 1871, and secondly, to sign the epoch-making Lei Áurea (known in English as the Golden Law), which abolished slavery in Brazil, in 1888.

Figure 2.2. *Above*, court dress belonging to Princess Isabel, collection of Museu do Traje e do Têxtil, Instituto Feminino da Bahia, source: Twitter; *below*, painting depicting Princess Isabel in the act of taking the oath as Regent of the Empire of Brazil: Victor Meirelles, *Juramento da Princesa Isabel*, 1875, oil on canvas, 177 x 260 cm, Museu Imperial, Petrópolis, source: IBRAM.

Only the skirt and train of Princess Isabel’s court dress survive; the bodice shown in figure 2.2 is a modern-era replica of the missing original. The bottom of the silk grosgrain skirt and the border of the green velvet train are decorated with a motif of coffee-plant branches, embroidered in gold and silver threads.¹