What was life like for women in the 19th century? In short, not easy.
Even wealthy and well-married women like Zsófia Probstner were no exception to this. Doesn’t the name sound familiar? She is the model of Pál Szinyei Merse’s painting The Woman in Purple Dress, who was the painter’s wife when the painting was made. The marriage did not last long, and although Zsófia Probster remarried, her life ended in poverty in the retirement home for actors on Magyar Street in Budapest. (Pál Szinyei Merse: Lady in Violet)