Rhodothea Petrou, weaver of Nicosia, aged 15.

Rudolf Swoboda's 1886 portrait of Rhodothea Petrou, described as 'weaver of Nicosia, aged 15,' is among the most unusual in the entire Royal Collection Indian series — and is indeed not Indian at all. Rhodothea Petrou is a Greek Cypriot subject, 'Rhodothea' being a Greek name and 'Petrou' a Greek surname. Cyprus had come under British administration in 1878 following the Congress of Berlin, making Cypriots newly subjects of the British Empire. This portrait documents Queen Victoria's curiosity about all her varied imperial subjects — a 15-year-old Greek Cypriot weaver captured with the same formal attention as Indian princes.

The Cypriot subject presents Swoboda with visual material from the Eastern Mediterranean rather than South Asia — Greek dress tradition, Levantine textile patterns, the specific appearance of a young Nicosia weaver. Rhodothea's age (15) and occupation as weaver would be reflected in her dress and the directness or reticence of her portrait bearing. Swoboda's academic technique renders the young subject with dignity appropriate to formal portraiture while documenting the specifics of her dress and appearance.