Charlotte of Belgium at Miramare

The everyday life of rulers, redolent with meltingly sweet, lost emotions, has always aroused irresistible curiosity. More than the lavish pomp and ceremony and the splendour of official court receptions, it is the everyday habits and occupations of royalty that have always awoken the interest of ordinary people because, despite the unbridgeable gap, it has always seemed more reasonable to identify with this aspect linked to domestic life, family intimacy, and the most tranquil pastimes.
It was precisely in the private sphere, far from the hustle and bustle of social life, that Princess Charlotte of Belgium's passion for painting, her gift for playing the piano, and taste for elegance expressed through her personal possessions, were born. These were all facets of her leisurely daily existence, which, a hundred and fifty years later, are still pleasingly attractive and take us back nostalgically to those "years of happiness" that the young princess spent at Miramare. Perhaps it was the joy of her life in an enchanting place that nourished her natural talent for art. For the first time Charlotte's paintings are being displayed in her native city, Brussels, and will return to Miramare where they will be on view in the residence itself, in order to show her talent as an artist. As strong as she was unfortunate, Charlotte is remembered in a serene period of her life, before she was overcome by the suffering caused by her Mexican experience.
The years she spent in Trieste, together with her husband Maximilian of Habsburg, between Christmas 1860 and 14 April 1864 - the day she left for Mexico - are thus seen in a new light through the magnifying glass of her painting and her mastery of technique.