And the Nominees for Best (and most accurate ;) Portrait Are...
C.E. Metz-Longinette-Gahring
photography...
Which portrait do you think most accurately portrays this
person?
Example:
Infanta Catalina d'Aragón, Queen Catherine of England,
wife of Arthur, Prince of Wales and Henry VIII of
England, 1485 - 1536.
Best:
A portrait of the young Catherine, by Michel Sittow, circa
1500. In 1500, Catherine was still an unmarried Infanta,
living in her parents' Court in Spain. She would have been
fifteen years old, and though she had long been "engaged"
to Arthur, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Henry VII
and Elizabeth of York, she had yet to depart for her new
country. She would do so the next year, and be widowed
the year after that. Seven long years would pass (and
mark her) before she would become the jubilant bride of
the new King, Henry VIII.
Interestingly, there appear to be no contemporary portraits
which exist of Catherine during the "glory days," when she
was high in Henry's favour and babies were appearing
(though, hélas, all except for one, unfortunately dying) at
a regular rate. The depictions that are still existent are of
Catherine as an older woman, except for highly-stylized
depictions such as exist in tapestries and stained-glass
windows. Perhaps contemporary portraits of the young
Queen did exist, but Henry ordered them destroyed when
he "cleaned house" once Anne Boleyn became a fixture
in his Life. Certainly, Henry had other inconvenient
reminders of his marital misadventures removed over the
years.
In the Sittow portrait, Catherine is shown wearing her
trademark "heavy gold collar" of "K"s (she preferred to
spell her "new name" with the English "K" - as "Katherine,"
and her cypher with her new husband Henry showed "H"s &
"K"s intertwined in "true lovers' knots") and her signature
pomegranates (her motto was a play on the Spanish word
for pomegranate and the location of her favourite childhood
residence, the Alhambra - both "Granada," her motto being
"not for my crown." Ironically, the "crown" of a pomegranate
is discarded when the fruit is eaten, as Catherine would be
discarded by Henry when she was no longer fertile and had
failed to produce a thriving son.)
The use of the "K for Katherine" might suggest that the
portrait was actually painted later than 1500, at which time,
as mentioned above, Catherine was still living in Spain.
However, Catherine may have adopted the "English K"
in her correspondence with Arthur, long before she ever
arrived in England.
The portrait (which can be seen at:
http://tudorhistory.org/aragon/youngcatherine.jpg )
depicts Catherine as she has been described in contemporary
accounts. "A fair Spaniard," Catherine had light-coloured eyes
and strawberry blonde hair (that would darken with age) very
similar to the "Tudor gold" of which the Tudors were so proud
(a gold colour with reddish overtones.)
A modern painter has created a new painting of Catherine,
using the face in the portrait by Michel Sittow. The Queen is
shown writing at her desk.
http://www.by-the-sword.com/arragon.jpg
Worst:
While, admittedly, Catherine was older when this portrait
was created (circa 1530, by an unknown artist) it seems
to have been done with stereotypes in mind. Catherine's
eyes and hair are dark, and she is given the "lantern jaw"
of the Habsburgs, who were not her family (her elder
sister, Juana "La Loca," married a Habsburg and began
the Spanish Habsburg line.) Simple weight gain, and
even the stress and grief Catherine was undergoing at
the time, could not account for the radical change in
her portrayal. This portrait, one of the most popular
to be shown of Catherine, can be seen at:
http://www.marquise.de/en/1500/pics/1530_2.shtml
For all it's glorious, romantic imagery, I believe "Queen
Catherine's Defence" may be one of the worst. The
painting was done by Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897)
not to be confused with another gentleman of that name
and title, whose father, Humphrey Gilbert, served in the
household of the young Princess Elizabeth (albeit then
referred to as "the lady Elizabeth") as a page.
Gilbert was illustrating the pivotal scene in Shakespeare's
Henry VIII where Queen Catherine appeals to her
husband at the Court at Blackfriars, with the immortal
words:
"Sir, I desire you do me right and justice;
And to bestow your pity on me: for
I am a most poor woman, and a stranger,
Born out of your dominions; having here
No judge indifferent, nor no more assurance
Of equal friendship and proceeding. Alas, sir,
In what have I offended you? what cause
Hath my behavior given to your displeasure,
That thus you should proceed to put me off,
And take your good grace from me? Heaven witness,
I have been to you a true and humble wife,
At all times to your will conformable;
Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,
Yea, subject to your countenance, glad or sorry
As I saw it inclined: when was the hour
I ever contradicted your desire,
Or made it not mine too? Or which of your friends
Have I not strove to love, although I knew
He were mine enemy? what friend of mine
That had to him derived your anger, did I
Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice
He was from thence discharged. Sir, call to mind
That I have been your wife, in this obedience,
Upward of twenty years, and have been blest
With many children by you: if, in the course
And process of this time, you can report,
And prove it too, against mine honour aught,
My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty,
Against your sacred person, in God's name,
Turn me away; and let the foul'st contempt
Shut door upon me, and so give me up
To the sharp'st kind of justice. Please you sir,
The king, your father, was reputed for
A prince most prudent, of an excellent
And unmatch'd wit and judgment: Ferdinand,
My father, king of Spain, was reckon'd one
The wisest prince that there had reign'd by many
A year before: it is not to be question'd
That they had gather'd a wise council to them
Of every realm, that did debate this business,
Who deem'd our marriage lawful: wherefore I humbly
Beseech you, sir, to spare me, till I may
Be by my friends in Spain advised; whose counsel
I will implore: if not, i' the name of God,
Your pleasure be fulfill'd!"
The scene Gilbert painted was touching in its pathos
(and the words Shakespeare ascribes to Catherine were
actually very close to the ones the beleaguered Queen
actually spoke.) However, Gilbert took considerable
license in depicting the Queen in the greatest crisis of her
Life. While Catherine did kneel, literally at the feet of
her husband (and insisting on continuing to kneel, though
Henry attempted several times to raise her) her dress
somber, austere and yet still elegant, her ornaments were
few but queenly, she was not as Gilbert portrayed her.
Gilbert was working off stereotypes, like the unknown
painter of the circa 1530 portrait mentioned above. The
Queen is shown with olive skin, black hair and eyebrows,
and dark eyes. While not thin, she is not shown as the
*very* plump (to put it kindly) woman Catherine had
become by the time of the Court at Black Friars. Bluntly,
but probably accurately, Catherine was described by
contemporary accounts as being "nearly as wide as she is
tall." While Catherine was under five feet, the petite and
plump prettiness she had enjoyed as a young woman and
Queen was long a thing of the past. It appears with each
succeeding pregnancy (and Catherine had six during her
marriage to Henry VIII) Catherine gained weight, which
she never lost. The Queen's appearance is referred to
often, in unflattering ways, though all agreed she was the
most dignified and queenly of women, though her beauty
had long faded.
The Queen Sir John Gilbert portrayed is probably, hélas,
a great deal more (physically) attractive than the forty-
three year old Catherine actually was by that time.
~ C.
--
--
~ CEM-L-G
It might be nice, when everyone seems so terribly concerned
with praying for our enemies, if people remembered also to pray
for those who protect and defend us, thereby ensuring we have
freedoms to enjoy.
Janet
> Pick a person from Royal History, before the age of
> photography...
>
> Which portrait do you think most accurately portrays this
> person?
>
> Example:
>
> Infanta Catalina d'Aragón, Queen Catherine of England,
> wife of Arthur, Prince of Wales and Henry VIII of
> England, 1485 - 1536.
>
To continue the Spanish theme....my nominations are Goya's various
images of the family of Charles IV - a flabbily unappealing monarch
and his hatchet-faced consort whose images might possibly reflect
Goya's own contempt for their characters as much as their true
physical appearance. Then again he *was* court painter, so they can't
have been TOO displeased with how he painted them! An unlovely story,
theirs....have you ever written on them, Candace?:-)
[Come to think of it, Goya is actually one of my favourite painters
generally - we might be the only household to have "Saturn devouring
his children" hangong in the dining room - if I ever get round to
hanging it....]
Janet
Jean Sue Libkind
jan...@angelfire.com wrote on 2/12/03 8:36:
> we might be the only household to have "Saturn devouring
> his children" hangong in the dining room
Doesn't that make small children nervous????
;)
js
Jen Gutmaker
> photography...
>
> Which portrait do you think most accurately portrays this
> person?
>
There is a lovely portrait of the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth
(later Elizabeth I), which is in The Queen's Collection at Windsor
Castle.
The Vigee-LeBrun portrait of Marie Antoinette with three of her
children at Versailles.
The portrait of Isabella of Portugal, wife of Charles V
Worst:
The Phoenix portrait of Elizabeth I
The Infanta Isabella of Spain by de Llano (man is that an unflattering
portrait)