Kristina (1626-1689), queen of Sweden

Hi everyone! My name is Isabella, and I'm so excited to show you a really cool painting today! It's a portrait of Queen Kristina of Sweden. Isn't that a fancy title? Have any of you ever been a queen or king, even just for a pretend game? nn --- nn Look closely at the painting. See the queen? She's sitting down, right? And we can only see her from the waist up. The artist, Sébastien Bourdon, only wanted us to focus on her face and her beautiful clothes. What do you notice about her clothes? They're mostly dark, aren't they? But see the white collar and cuffs? They're really bright and stand out, don't they? It's like a spotlight on her! nn --- nn The artist used lots of dark and light colors to make the queen look really important. It's called chiaroscuro – a fancy word for light and shadow! Can you see how the light makes her face and clothes look three-dimensional? It almost looks like she's popping out of the painting! What do you think the artist wanted us to feel when we look at her face? Does she look happy, sad, or maybe a little bit thoughtful? nn --- nn See her hair? It's long and flows down her shoulders. And what's she holding in her hand? It's a little dark and hard to see, isn't it? Maybe it's a special jewel or a letter! The background is blurry and dark. This makes the queen stand out even more. It's all about her! nn --- nn This painting is really old! It's from a time called the Baroque period. Artists in that time liked to paint people looking very realistic, and they loved using lots of light and shadow. This painting shows us what a powerful queen looked like a long, long time ago. It's like a window into the past! What do you think it would have been like to meet Queen Kristina? nn --- nn This painting is very important. It's in a special museum, the Nationalmuseum, so lots of people can see it. It tells us a story about a strong woman and a time long ago. Isn't it amazing that we can still see this painting and learn about history through art? What's your favorite part of the painting? Let's talk about it!