On Saturnine Complexions
Charles II, Benedetto Gennari - Detail
First of all he had an abnormal darkness of complexion, a truly saturnine tint. This darkness was the subject of comment from the first. His mother wrote jokingly to her sister-in-law that she had give birth to a black baby and to a friend in France that 'he was so dark that she was ashamed of him'. Show would send his portrait 'as soon as he is a littler fairer'. But Charles never did become fairer. Later the sobriquet 'the Black Boy' would be used, still commemorated in English inn signs.
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