Powerful Historical Figures In Modern Garb

Texas-based graphic designer and artist Becca Saladi offers a modern take on dozens of history’s most powerful people in her portrait series, “Royalty Now.”

The following portraits imagine some of history’s royalty in modern guise. Can you still spot their power?

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president

Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, succeeded to the throne in 336 BCE at age 20.

 

Alexander Hamilton was a founding father and creator of the US banking system.

Anne Boylen was a witch who seduced the king to some, and to others, she was a charming, witty, and intelligent woman.

Aristotle was a great philosopher who lived in Greece from 384 to 322 BC.

 

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven is shown here at age 49 in an 1820 portrait. Saladin’s modern version is tie-less but just as intense.

Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great, was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796 — the country’s longest-ruling female leader. Under her rule, Russia thrived, becoming one of the main powers of Eurasia. Catherine was a supporter of the arts, humanities, and a supporter of the Enlightenment.

Cleopatra VII, the last active ruler of Egypt’s Ptolemaic Kingdom, lived from 69 to 30 BC. She was part of the Ptolemaic dynastic, a Hellenistic dynasty ruling Egypt — so her skin would be lighter than the typical Egyptian.

 

Queen Elizabeth 1 was a long-reigning queen and was 42 at the time she sat for this portrait.

George Washington served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.

Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547, a tumultuous period. He famously had six wives, favorite subjects of Saladin for this series.

Jane Seymour was Queen of England from 1536 to 1537. She was the third wife of Henry VIII and the mother of the future king, Edward VI.

Julius Caesar – This reconstruction is based on one of his famous busts. The artist has taken care to portray Caesar as you might expect a respected successful business executive.

Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI, was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was convicted of high treason and executed by guillotine in October 1793.

Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius), lived from 83 to 30 BC. He was an influential Roman military leader and politician during the pivotal time in Roman history when the empire was transitioning from a Republic to an autocratic Empire.

Mona Lisa – This painting is one of the most famous portraits of the Italian Renaissance by Leonardo Da Vinci, painted in the first years of the 16th century. The subject’s identity is a matter of fierce speculation and debate. It is said by some to be the likeness of an Italian noblewoman, but there are many detractors to that theory. The painting hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

Napoleon the 18th-19th century French military leader and emperor.

Nefertiti, an Egyptian queen and the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, lived from approximately 1370 to 1330 BC.

Pocahontas lived from around 1596 to 1617. She was a Native American woman notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, and travels to England. She was the daughter of the chief Powhatan, chief of a network of tribes in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of Virginia.

Shaka Zulu was a powerful South African King, ruling over the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. He was a master of social and propagandistic political methods, as well as a great warrior when he decided to engage. He is often depicted holding the distinctive spear and shield of the Zulu warriors.

Simón Bolívar was known as El Libertador. He was a Venezuelan leader who led what are currently the states of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama to independence from the Spanish Empire in the early 1800s.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top