◧ Artist: Albert Edelfelt (1854 - 1905)
◧ Country: Finland
◧ Title: [Queen Bianca]
◧ Medium: Oil painting on canvas
◧ Painting Size: 96.5 × 75.5 cm
◧ Country: Finland
◧ Title: [Queen Bianca]
◧ Medium: Oil painting on canvas
◧ Painting Size: 96.5 × 75.5 cm
◧ Museum: Ateneum, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki
◧ Country of Stamp Issue: Finland◧ Date of Issue: March 1, 1995
◧ Face Value: 2.40+0.60 Finnish Markka
◧ Issued as a part of Pro Filatelia 1995
◧ Issued as a part of Pro Filatelia 1995
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This work [Queen Bianca] is based on a tale by Zacharias Topelius. The painting depicts a historical person, Queen Bianca (Blanche of Namur), who was the spouse of Swedish King Magnus Eriksson and who arranged a marriage between her son Haakon (here sitting on her lap) and Princess Margareta of Denmark. This resulted in a union between Sweden and Denmark that lasted from 1397 to 1453. While bouncing her son on her knee, Queen Bianca sings to him of these plans.
The song is Swedish children’s song, “Rida, Rida, Ranka” (“Rider, Rider, Rocker”).
The painting was featured at the Paris Salon in 1877, and subsequently copied in numerous French art publications. The enduring appeal of the work undoubtedly lies in the maternal love it conveys, a subject that awakened the public's interest amidst all the war and battle-themed paintings on display. (from Google Arts & Culture)
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