The New Murrey and Blue blog

Some time ago I posted about a painting called Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap from this exhibition by Titian, which I’d “adapted” to become a portrait of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln. This adaptation has popped up all over the place since then, and now I’ve happened upon it again – captioned “Victorian painting of John de la Pole”. Really? I’m sure that Titian, already displeased with me, will now be doubly displeased! Sharpened brushes will surely be raining down from on high, so I’d better stay inside until he gets over it.

That aside, it seems that people’s idea of Lincoln varies considerably. We have nothing to go by, of course, because in fact there isn’t a great deal known about him. For instance, I’ve found him portrayed like a very blond Viking/Anglo-Saxon warlord (complete with beard and ‘tache),  and as a neat Tudor gentleman with dark hair and a pointed red beard. I’ve yet to find him bald!

Well he certainly wasn’t either of the above, but we really do not know what he was like. He’s the invisible man, very definitely on the scene but impossible to “see”. Unless, of course, he was in full armorial splendour.

And in the meantime I fear my twiddled-with Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap will continue to find its way around the web….