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| Philipp, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (6 November 1896, Schloss Rumpenheim, Offenbach - 25 October 1980, Rome.) |
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| Umberto di Savoia, principe di Piemonte, later King Umberto II (15 September 1904, Castello di Racconigi, Racconigi - 8 March 1983, Geneva.) |
Both princes were - at least technically - bisexual, though both made dynastic marriages and each produced four children. (There has been much conjecture as to just how the frankly and notoriously homosexual Umberto may have accomplished that feat.) Philipp, who had had a previous relationship with the poet Siegfried Sassoon, married Umberto's sister, the tragic Princess Mafalda, in 1925 and the couple and their children lived mainly in Italy after that; his portrait was painted in Turin. In 1930 Umberto married Princess Marie José, daughter of King Albert I of the Belgians and his wife, Queen Elisabeth, but the couple led separate lives except when a public appearance was called for, which gave Umberto ample time to indulge his penchant for handsome young army officers.
The brothers-in-law are dressed in early seventeenth century costume, apparently for a pageant commemorating the founding of the house of Savoy-Carignano (?).
I'll let Wikipedia give a fuller report on the dramatic lives of these two complicated fellows:
Prince Philipp of Hesse
Many thanks. I am not at all familiar with Philip de László, but he was terrific! And yes, the brothers'-in-law portraits and costumes look very 17th century.
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