Countess Carlotta von Boos-Waldeck born as Baroness Carlotta von Breidbach-Bürresheim (5 June 1838, Biebrich – 4 March 1920, Abbazia, then in Italy, today in Croatia) was a German lady-in-waiting for Grand Duchess Mathilde of Hesse-Darmstadt. She appeared in the Gallery of Beauties gathered by Ludwig I of Bavaria[1] in 1863. Her portrait was the last of the collection for the Gallery.
She was born in Biebrich on 5 June 1838, the daughter of Baron Philipp Jacob von Breidbach-Bürresheim and his wife Caroline, née Baroness von Greifenklau.[2]
In 1858, as a lady-in-waiting for Grand Duchess Mathilde of Hesse-Darmstadt, Carlotta visited the court of Maximillian II in Munich, where she met Ludwig I, who had been widowed since 1854. He fell in love with the lady-in-waiting, whose portrait he had hung in the Gallery of Beauties and whose affection he tried to win with no fewer than 250 poems; However, she rejected a marriage proposal from the Bavarian ruler, who was 50 years her senior.[3]
In 1863 she married Count Philipp Boos von Waldeck, with whom she lived in Bohemia and on an estate near Salzburg; the couple had six children.[4]
She died in Abbazia in 1920.[5]
In 1863, Ludwig I commissioned Joseph Stieler's nephew and student Friedrich Dürck (1809–1884) to paint her for the collection.[6]
Baroness Carlotta wears a dress with neckline made straight by a modesty piece in the portrait.[7]