A portrait of Helena Antonia of Liége (with beard)

Confirmation of the great interest aroused by the ‘bearded maiden’ who visited the capital of Silesia in 1621, are the other two portraits found in the arts collections in the Elizabeth and the Magdalen Libraries in Wrocław. The portrayed woman was affected by hirsutism, the anomaly resulting in excessive hair growth such as facial hair in her case, and grew up at the court of Archduchess Mary of Styria, the wife of Archduke Charles II of Graz. In 1605, as one of the ladies-in-waiting to Princess Constance of Austria, a daughter of the Archduchess, she travelled to Kraków and took part in the ceremonial procession which preceded the wedding of Constance with the King of Poland, Sigismund III Vasa.