Maria Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena “1858-1929” by Ignacio Suárez Llanos and Rafael Monleón y Torres “1887” (oil on canvas, 252 x 157 cm)

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She was the second wife of the king Alfonso XII from 29 of November 1879. She became widow in 1885 and was regent of Spain until the coronation of her son Alfonso XIII on 17 of May 1902. She was a talented woman, dedicated to the Navy until her death in 1929.

The canvas was purchased by the Navy in 1887, to deposit it in the Naval Museum of Madrid as a memento of the visit that the Queen made the same year, whose commemorative plaque is located to the left of the painting. The painter Suárez Llanos passed away in 1881 leaving the work unfinished, so it would have to be finally finished by Rafael Monleón y Torres (1843-1900), restorer painter of the Naval Museum, in the mentioned year of 1887.