Follow up question:

Did they ever embellish the portraits? You know, like touch up her nose, shorten her neck, etc.

^^^Holy ^^^crap, ^^^I ^^^can ^^^actually ^^^contribute ^^^to ^^^something ^^^here! ^^^This ^^^is ^^^your ^^^moment, ^^^buddy, ^^^don't ^^^screw ^^^it ^^^up!

Mary Del Priore published a book on imperial letters between the Brazilian Emperor, Dom Pedro I, and his mistress, the Marchioness of Santos, Domitila de Castro Canto e Melo. Quite an interesting book, honestly, exploring their life and the Emperor's marriage with Empress Leopoldina, his first wife.

The Emperor was know, even at the time, for being a womanizer. His attempt to secure a second wife faced some serious problems for it. He liked to exercise, had a fit body and Leopoldina described him as "like an Adonis, shadowed by a brown curly hair and beautiful black eyes". He was also a gregarious, charming man and, well, he was the Emperor. Being successful with the opposite sex wasn't that hard to begin with.

The Empress, however, was not really know to be a pretty woman. Overweight, short, and regarded by the Emperor as someone to do "marriage love". Reportedly, she considered sex to be "disgusting and unfit to a lady". Sex was to be performed "in silence, laid in bed, and thinking of the empire." Like a proper Austrian princess should behave, like her mother-in-law told her she should behave. Fun, huh?

She proved herself quite a competent ruler, was loved by her people and is still regarded as an important figure in Brazilian art history. But her marriage life was probably not ideal, despite her obvious dedication to her husband and nation.

Before declaring the Brazilian independence from Portugal, the Emperor met Domitilia de Castro Canto e Melo, from São Paulo, daughter of a high ranking military officer, recently divorced. How they met is somewhat mysterious, but she was a woman that wouldn't "pollute the pleasures of the flesh with prayer", like Leopoldina would. A delicate mouth, green eyes, tall, dark hair, and that Brazilian body. São Paulo also had a shortage of men at the time, witch caused the female populace to become more independent and strong willed.

Dom Pedro I gave her a mansion in the capital, Rio de Janeiro, a title, as Countess first and eventually as Marchioness, and (why the hell not) placed her as a Lady-in-waiting for the Empress.

According to Mary del Priore, Dom Pedro I "never confused his verbs: marriage and love. Nobles of blood should only marry nobles of blood, never nobles of bed." She describes the Emperor's life in Domitila's house as somewhere he could experience all the pleasures of the flesh and social life, where he would laugh with his friends and receive members of the court.

Now that introductions are done, the hotter parts of the book talk about letters between Dom Pedro, who signed them as (seriously the best translation I could come up with) Hot Little Fire, to "Titilia". In those letters, he would usually include drawnings of his own penis, sometimes ejaculating, or add pubic hair. Domitila would always answer in kind.

In the letters, both Dom Pedro and the Marchioness, talk openly about their sexual encounters. Mary del Priore details that the Emperor liked to send kisses to her "thing" (Mary's word) and to use a clear language: he wanted to orgasm, both on her and with her. Domitila played along, asked what he wanted her to wear, how she wanted to receive Dom Pedro again in her house and helped to plan soirées in her house.

Eventually their relationship ended. Dom Pedro went to back to conquer the Portuguese throne and Domitila married a rich farmer. The Empress Leopoldina, however, died aged 29, leaving 7 children and a bundle of depressing letters to her family in Europe and friends. He never saw the end of the relationship or her son take the throne.

This is my first post here, hope I'm not breaking any rules. Also, I'm not a historian, so let's hope someone can expand on this.

It is a single example, but it was the only one I could provide literary evidence to support. Dom Pedro had many women in his life, it's sometimes hard to see what is actual a proven fact and what is not.

Follow up question as well, did they send portraits unsolicited? Example would a desirable noble just get portraits from eager fathers trying to unload their daughters​? Fully clothed of course.

Was this a phenomenon limited just to England, or did other places do this too?