Click to see the full image

Click to see the full image. Photo: Alexis Daflos

Princess Sibylla
1908-1972

The Dalarna artist David Tägtström wanted to capture the personalities of his models, rather than their social status. One trick he used was to let his models sit for so long that they stopped posing, and started to relax and just be themselves. "And then it is just a matter of painting," he said.

Princess Sibylla, the mother of our current king, gives an elegant and relaxed impression as she sits in a green silk dress with a fur stole over one shoulder. As a princess, she quickly became much loved by the people of Sweden, together with her daughters, the popular Haga Princesses.

bernadotte portraits

Portrait: Princess Sibylla
Artist: David Tägtström 1894-1981
Year: Oil on canvas, 1951

The portrait can be seen in the East Guard's Hall of the Bernadotte Apartments at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.