The newborn Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge’s 3Xgreat-grandfather was King George V: King George V was born as the second son of King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) and gre…

Browse Christie's upcoming auctions, exhibitions and events

Emperor Wilhelm II, 1909-11. Though recently repaired, the portrait still shows the marks of five slashes apparently inflicted by Russian soldiers at the end of World War II. The first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, "Willy" suffered a birth injury that permanently damaged his left arm; many believe his disability, and others' reaction to it, severely affected his psychology. He was further warped by his early indoctrination into the all-pervasive Prussian military milieu…

A posthumous version of the State portrait of King Edward VII (RCIN 404553) commissioned by Queen Alexandra from Luke Fildes and completed in 1912.In the biography of his father, LV Fildes recalled that: On and off for the last two years, my father had been painting a posthumous portrait of the late King Edward. It had been commissioned privately by Queen Alexandra and it was to be like the State Portrait in size but more intimate in character. Having the studies he had made from life for…

This exhibition will present over 20 French portraits from the Renaissance by celebrated artists like François Clouet, Corneille de Lyon and Léonard Limosin on a variety of media: paintings, drawings, enamels and sculpture.

The Monarchs of France ruled from the establishment of the Frankish Kingdom in 486 to 1870. During most of its history, France was ruled by kings. However, four Carolingian monarchs were also Roman Emperors and the Bonapartes were Emperors of the French. This article lists all rulers to have held the title "King of Franks", "King of France", "King of the French" or "Emperor of the French". For other Frankish monarchs, see List of Frankish kings. In addition to the monarchs listed below, the…

When someone is talked about as being crazy, they usually aren’t the ones calling the shots. However, there have been a few notable cases of these mad men