Italian Masterpieces
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Winter Masterpieces, Italian Masterpieces from Spain’s Royal Court Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Lived: 27 April 1806 – 22 August 1878

Fourth wife and niece of Ferdinand VII.

Ferdinand was so anxious to produce an heir after the death of his third wife that he married Maria Christina only seven months later. She rapidly gave birth to two daughters, the eldest becoming the future Queen Isabella II, before Ferdinand died in 1833. Maria Christina then assumed the position of Regent for Isabella. She secretly married a commoner three months later, which led to upheaval in the line of succession.