What 16 Historical Women Actually Looked Like — Beyond Their Flattering Portraits

Ever wonder if our obsession with flawless images is a modern thing? Think again. Long before filters and Photoshop, people still craved the perfect portrait — only then, it was painters, not apps, doing the retouching. Artists would smooth skin, brighten eyes, and idealize features, creating a kind of painted perfection. We decided to take a nostalgic look back, comparing these artistic masterpieces to some of the earliest photographs of iconic 19th-century women. Let’s see how history’s original “editors” shaped beauty before the camera took over.

Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the granddaughter of George III

Adele Meyer, an English socialite, social reformer and philanthropist

Florence Nightingale

Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, Empress of Austria

Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece

Friedericke Maria Beer-Monti

Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, the queen consort and wife of King Ferdinand VII of Spain

Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans, Infanta of Spain

Louise Rasmussen, the Danish ballet dancer and wife of King Frederick VII of Denmark

Louise Jopling, an English painter of the Victorian era

Carolina Coronado, Spanish writer

Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, Empress of Brazil

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the niece of Queen Victoria

Maria of Nassau, mother of the first Queen Elisabeth of Romania

Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Empress of Germany

Isabella II, Queen of Spain

Be sure to check out our other article, where we’ve rounded up portraits of famous figures that turned out to be more fiction than fact.