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It's been a busy week at work, but I'm hoping to have an update about Theodore's travels this weekend. The pace of the TL is also going to be picking up somewhat - the general European war is almost on top of us. In the meantime, I poked around in my notes and found a post you might enjoy. Certainly Theodore was an interesting character, but what did he look like?


I mentioned a royally commissioned portrait of Theodore in the notes of an earlier chapter. As a matter of fact, we still have that portrait, or at least a print of the engraving made of the original painting. It resides today in the British Museum. While there are a number of 18th century illustrations of Theodore, some of which I've posted in this thread, this is the only surviving portrait we know of which was actually made in Theodore's presence (assuming it is indeed a reproduction of the Gaetan painting as it claims to be). To my knowledge Theodore never sat for a portrait elsewhere, or at least no such portrait survives. Thus, although I can't say for certain that this is an accurate picture of Theodore, it seems the most likely to be an accurate picture of all contemporary illustrations which we have, keeping in mind the tendency of 18th century portraits to sometimes be less than photorealistic.

The text at the bottom reads "Taken from the Life (by Order of the Neapolitan Majesty) while under confinement in the Castle of Gaeta." The scene below the portrait appears to show a fanciful/allegorical scene of his coronation, with a woman in chains handing Theodore a crown. A panorama of Gaeta lies below that. My favorite detail, however, is the arms of Genoa and France lying like spoils of war at the bottom of the frame!

I've mentioned that Theodore was widely described as handsome, but we do have one particular account of him that stands out in its detail. Someone, we know not who, sent the Genoese an anonymous letter giving a close description of Theodore, presumably to aid in his capture. I don't have the exact text, but one modern author has paraphrased the letter's description of Theodore as follows:

Tall, robust, and handsome, with slim legs, small hands, reddish blond hair and eyebrows, and a fine nose, but he is tanned by the sun and has some slight pockmarks, large nostrils, and teeth blackened toward the gums by taking Spanish tobacco... [he] possesses three different wigs, one long, one short, and one with a pigtail, as well as two scarlet coats in the French style, one of them with frogging on the sleeves and the other with a green silk lining, and two waistcoats, one being of crimson velvet and the other of very old brocade. He is very fond of red, for he has a long Turkish robe of that hue, trimmed with fur, which he wears indoors, with a red velvet, fur-lined cap. He also has a pale buff riding coat, worn with knee breeches, and a blue traveling coat with scarlet revers... [he] has only one sword, whose hilt is merely of silver, and one cane, its pommel silver likewise, if he has not by now sold them.

Click to expand...

Since the letter is anonymous, we can't be sure that the description is actually a firsthand account. It certainly seems like it, however, given the detail, and the particularities of his build and dress are fully consistent with other known firsthand accounts. Presumably only someone who had spent a significant amount of time with him in Corsica would know such details about his entire wardrobe. Because the source is presumed to be hostile to Theodore (or else why would they be giving a description of him to the Genoese), there is no reason to assume there was any exaggeration or "airbrushing" at work here, and the notice taken of various physical flaws like pock-marks and stained teeth further suggests that this might be a quite faithful description.

Edit: All the portraits of Theodore I have can be found here.