The christening gown of pale-coloured silk of Empress Elisabeth
The christening gown of pale-coloured silk of Empress Elisabeth
Empress’s milk teeth together with its case
Empress’s milk teeth together with its case
Christening robes and a milk tooth of Empress Elisabeth in its own case
The Christmas Eve of the year 1837 was special in that it fell on a Sunday.
This in itself was not particularly unusual were it not for the fact that it was also the day Elisabeth, the future empress of Austria, was born. She was delivered at half-past ten in the evening, the third child of Duke Max and Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria. The newborn already had a tooth, known as a dens connatus, like the French Sun King, Louis XIV.
The circumstance that this child had been born on Christmas Eve, a Sunday, and with a milk tooth already showing, convinced her mother that the birth of her daughter had taken place under a particularly auspicious star. This belief was perhaps an attempt to assuage her conscience, for she lived in perpetual fear of a curse that she herself had uttered on the day of her wedding. She was so unhappy when she married that she is said to have spoken the following words when she threw her bridal bouquet to be caught:
“May this marriage and all its issue lack the blessing of God to the very last.”
The little girl born on Christmas Eve was baptised two days later, receiving the names Elisabeth Amalia Eugenia. Her godmother was Auguste Amalie, Duchess of Leuchtenberg. The infant wore a christening gown of pale-coloured silk covered with floral embroidered lace and trimmed with bows in old rose ribbon, together with a lace bonnet.
This enchanting christening ensemble will be exhibited at the Sisi Museum from 1 December 2009.
One of the empress’s milk teeth together with its case has been preserved, and visitors will also have the opportunity of seeing these two unique exhibits. The case is made of gilt brass and displays the crowned arms of alliance of Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria.
Despite the romantic appearance of the christening gown and the empress’s seemingly auspicious date of birth, it is as well to remember that the riches and happiness prophesied for Sunday’s children were bestowed at the expense of a short life.
