Pinkdiamond just posted a bunch of links...

[isabelladangelo]

...to portraits at Christies.

Very similar to what I've been seeing in Naples in the late 16th c...

So, Anne of the Thousand Days didn't have it wrong? :-) (Hint: Check out the french hood. Notice something?)

See? Dress up your dog is period. (Yes, that style is just barely out of period, but I do have other sources that show dogs were dressed to match their owners, pink ribbons in this case, or their owners heraldry..or just dressed up!)

More Italian Pretties

Thanks to pinkdiamond for posting these and a heck of a lot more. These were just the ones I really liked/thought were amusing.

Comments

[tudorlady.livejournal.com]

Re: French hood picture

I honestly do not think that's her hair hanging loose behind her hood. I think the fact that it appears brown may be an artifact of the painting itself - the black used for that (different than the background, which was often the case) may not have been stable, and it now appears brown and/or that's something that has been painted over at a later time.

(I wanted to be a painting conservator before I found out it actually involved an MS degree - which I couldn't have swung. However, I did learn a lot about this stuff that didn't require the MS.)

[cathgrace.livejournal.com]

nope it's definitely her hair, if you zoom in on the large version you can see individual strands, and painted shines.

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

It's hair. You can see the wavy, shine of the hair and the strands like cathgrace says. It's actually really cool when you zoom in.

I'm with realm_of_venus (she replied in pinkdiamond's journal about the portrait) and attack_laurel and think it's just a bridal portrait. Still, bridal or no, it's an interesting concept and means that Anne of the Thousand days isn't as wrong as everyone thinks.

[sstormwatch.livejournal.com]

Well, Anne of the Thousand Days might have been right... if this painting was in Anne's time period. 1560s is my guess by the sleeve styles.

As to her hair... this isn't a French hood she is wearing, technically speaking, since there is no hood there. My guess... it is the jeweled Billiment portion that is often recorded as separate from the hoods, or this is an example of the Paste. Cunnington notes that pastis or pastes were "used to decorate French hoods, or worn as a separate head adornment by brides". If this is her bridal portrait, then perhaps that is why no hood is worn, just the paste or billament.

I am getting to think that the fabric covered portion is called the paste, the jewels are called the billiments (hence upper and nether billiments), the veil/hood is the hood, and how it is worn all together is the French hood (vs. say the English hood, or the Anne of Brittany hood, or any of the other styles of hoods.)

[attack-laurel.livejournal.com]

I am fairly sure this is a bridal portrait - the other symbolism appears to be correct, and the loose hair is a big giveaway. It's all about looking like a virgin, even if you aren't one. :)

[mistressfetch.livejournal.com]

It looks like her hair is showing but that wouldn't be right...also, if you zoom in closely you can see that her fingernails are dirty ;-) Just sayin'....

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

It's her hair. Hence the Anne of the Thousand Days reference where you have Anne running around with just a pretty hair band (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackthecat/305744038/in/set-72157594319785875/) until after she marries Henry practically. Since loose hair like that was a symbol of virginity/innocence, the makers of the movie might have actually been going off the period concept and been trying to show Anne as innocent prior to falling for Henry. It really puts a new twist on that movie.