Arknights Lore: Rosa [Masterpiece] Costume and Elisabeth Analysis!

Some thanks goes to Twitter user @_potatocha for some of the analyses (fashion and details). I was also reminded of Elisabeth when I was surfing Lofter.

Rosa's costume is very beautiful. At the same time, it makes multiple references to the musical Elisabeth. As a musical fan (remember my Phantom of the Opera articles?), I am very excited to finally publish this article.

Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW), with a book and lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I. It has been translated into seven languages and seen by over ten million spectators worldwide, making it the most successful German-language musical of all time. As of 2022, it has not yet been staged in the English-speaking countries.

This is unfortunately due to how there was an illegal translation of one of Kunze's earlier works. He got so upset that he banned translations of all of his future works. With its success, it is also said to be the German Phantom of the Opera. After all, both musicals feature a troubled lady (Elisabeth and Christine) seeking a bad (?) guy (Death and the Phantom).

Anyway, Rosa would be like Elisabeth due to being a noble, serious depression, and some kind of obsession with death. I mean, just look at Rosa's background, token, and voiced lines.

Elisabeth of Hungary had a short and tragic life. She married Emperor Franz Joseph I at the age of sixteen. She did not adjust well to her new life.

She did not get along with her mother in law that raised her daughters. 1 of them died. Later she had a son, but her health suffered due to pressure. She often visited Hungary for its more relaxed environment and helped to bring about the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867.

Her son and his mistress died from murder-suicide in 1889. She never recovered from it. Her sister died in a fire in 1897. While travelling in Geneva in 1898, she was mortally wounded by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni.

The musical is very accurate to her life, except taking the artistic liberty of Elisabeth's obsession with a personified Death who is very handsome which does not exist in real life.

The huge frame that Rosa is in is just like the frame that Elisabeth is in.

And of course this is where I am going to plug the Elisabeth musical videos with English subtitles on YouTube.

There are 2 versions you can watch:
1. German. The original adapation.
2. Japanese. By the Takarazuka Troupe, with an all female cast.

Extract from Rosa's costume description:
Count of Rostov regards his eldest daughter as his most perfect masterpiece, but following an unexpected misfortune, Nataliya chose to be herself.

The last part has the myself part in herself due to differences in Chinese and English.

This part of I Belong To Me also suits Rosa.
I hate to be burdened,
With duties and ancient lies,
Can't stand to be touched,
By the looks of a thousand eyes,
I flee from the crowd in agony,
I just belong to me

Here is the 20th anniversary performance of multiple Elisabeths from multiple language productions.

Notice that the bears in the illustration are brown while those in battle are white. Many commented that Skade made a mistake until Skade had to clarify that she did not make any mistakes and did this on purpose.

But why? Perhaps we can compare the brown and white bears to the side actors in Elisabeth as commoners and servants who wear dark and light coloured clothes.

Elisabeth was known for her beauty and she had a strict beauty regimen. Which includes bathing in milk.

People outside don't even have milk for their children.

This sort of parallels the Ursus situation...

Watch Milch (Milk) song from the German Elisabeth musical with English subtitles:

Watch Schönheitspflege (Beauty Care) for the contrast on Elisabeth's luxurious beauty routine while civilians are dying outside:

This is sort of like how the nobles in Ursus kept the food supply to themselves in the Children of Ursus plot.

Rosa's dress looks like the court dresses of the Tatania and Olga Romanov. The background in this photo is decorative like Rosa's costume. She is also wearing a sash like them.

The hat is Kokoshnik, which is worn by Russian aristocrats in portaits during the early 20th century. This is a simpler version compared to those before it was banned for other historical reasons.

1. Next to the mirror, we see the same background as in Children of Ursus. A stark contrast from the luxurious layout of this costume.

2. The mirror has a reflected sad bear. Could that be Rosa? It also resembles the plush bear that represents Vika, Istina's deceased friend. Even if she is a perfect masterpiece, the sadness inside is reflected into the mirror.

3. Paint orbs and brushes imply that Rosa is the masterpiece. Being painted by the people around her, like her family. Colours might be of the USSG? Zima (red), Gummy (yellow), Istina (blue).

4. Stage setting also implies that Rosa is putting up a performance.

5. Gears, implying this is a machine that is crafting Rosa.

6. Rosa is holding an apple, known to be a symbol of sin and downfall of man. Suits Rosa's description in archives as: "A young lady from a pure pedigree of nobles fallen from grace."

Plugging the previous Istina costume analysis: https://gamepress.gg/arknights/lore/arknights-lore-istina-bibliosmia-co…

Anyway, others have been speculating that Children of Ursus may get a follow up. Rosa gets a costume while Gummy and Istina get operator records which are very sad. Please read them.

And once again, thank you Skade for amazing art.