The first portrait of China's feared empress dowager was by… an American?
At 11 o'clock on a warm summer's morning in 1903, 38-year-old artist Katharine Augusta Carl was ushered into the throne room of the Summer Palace, on the western outskirts of Beijing. 67-year-old Empress Dowager Cixi, who had effectively controlled China for more than 40 years, entered with her chief lady-in-waiting and interpreter Princess Der Ling, an ambassador's daughter who had...
Source: asiaone.com