Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate

Princess Louise Hollandine
Abbess of Maubuisson
Born	18 April 1622
Died	11 February 1709(1709-02-11) (aged 86)
Full name Louise Hollandine
Father	Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Mother	Elizabeth Stuart
Religion	Roman Catholic, prev. Protestant
Occupation	Portrait painter, graphic artist

Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate (18 April 1622 – 11 February 1709) was a painter and abbess. She was a daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth Stuart.

Painting

In 1644, Louise painted this portrait of her sister, Sophia of Hanover.

Louise Hollandine was a talented portrait painter and graphic artist, a talent that she shared with her brother, Prince Rupert. She was student of Gerard van Honthorst and painted so ably in his style that some of her works were attributed to him. For unknown reasons and to the dismay of her Protestant family, in December 1657 she fled to France and converted to the Roman Catholic faith. On 25 March 1659 she became a novice and on 19 September 1660 a nun in the Cistercian Maubuisson Abbey.^[1] With the support of King Louis XIV, she became Abbess of Maubuisson in August 1664.

As a painter, the princess is considered an "amateur". The portraits she painted are often in the Baroque style of Honthorst, but there are exceptions, which were likely not commissioned. Her works were generally kept within her family, and some can now be found in German museums.

Ancestry

References