Like something out of a fairy tale, in 1864, a European power installed an Austrian nobleman as Maximillian I, Emperor of Mexico, ultimately resulting in tragedy, madness and execution.
Carlota, in Mexican garbPope Pius IXNapoleon III and his wife, the Empress Eugenie, 1865The chapel built on the Hill of the Bells, Maximillian’s execution site in QueretaroEduard Manet’s, “Execution of the Emperor Maximillian,” inaccurately depicting Maximillian in the center, wearing a sombrero. His executioners are symbolically wearing French infantry uniforms and the soldier loading his rifle is similar in appearance to Napoleon III. The painting was publicly banned in France.Maximillian’s sarcophagus in the Hapsburg Imperial Crypt, Vienna.Maximillian I, death mask.Maximillian’s embalmed corpse, photographed in Mexico.Carlota, 1914Bouchout Castle, Belgium. Final home of Carlota.
