art
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The above painting by William Bell Scott depicts Chaucer reading to an aging John of Gaunt. The ladies are the two men’s wives, Philippa and Katherine, born de Roët. Everyone knows that John of Gaunt (1340-1399) had three wives, the last of whom was Katherine Swynford (nee de Roët, 1350-1403), who had been his children’s…
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In the small quaint Hampshire village of Nether Wallop, filming location for the BBC’s MISS MARPLE, stands St Andrew’s church, a medieval establishment built on Saxon foundations. From the exterior it looks rather ordinary (save for the strange funerary pyramid in its grounds!) but inside is a glory of wall-paintings dating from the Saxon era…
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Unicorns do not exist. They never have. Well, that is the general consensus. They are mythical beasts, along with the dragon, centaur, phoenix and so on, but in the medieval period the unicorn was believed in. It was thought that to hunt the unicorn was perhaps the greatest hunt of all, surpassing even the white…
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Uncle Richard?
“Princes”, art, Battle of Bosworth, Cecily Neville, Charles II, Civil War, Danny Dyer, David Garrick, Earl of Northumberland, Elizabeth Tyrrell, Elizabeth Wydeville, Frances Wray, genealogy, George Neville, Gipping Chapel, Henry of Buckingham, Joan Haute, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, John of Gaunt, Katherine Haute, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Margaret of Salisbury, Percies, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Richard Woodville, Robert Cecil, Shakespeare, Sir Henry Vane, Sir James Tyrrell, Stowmarket, Thomas Snellgrove, William Brandon, William Cecil
A long time ago, I posted a short article about one of my ancestors, Thomas Snellgrove, who was a portrait artist and painted an actor portraying Richard III. Here is the link. I have been researching my family history for over thirty years and it used to be a very slow and painstaking process. The…
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Read here to learn about Edwin Ridsdale Tate, the man who created the magnificent drawing above, showing medieval York.
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And to cap it all, we even have Kittens in the Tower! Oh, for heaven’s sake! Right, there is a famous “story” about one of our 15th-century princes of Wales, specifically Edward of Lancaster (or Westminster), seven-year-old son and heir of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. The fame goes that after the 2nd Battle…
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Everyone knows about Leslau and his theories concerning the Hans Holbein portrait of Sir Thomas More and his family. In Leslau’s opinion, the portrait reveals much about the fates of the “Princes in the Tower”. Another Holbein painting, “The Ambassadors” is also filled with secret messages. Or so it is said. I cannot argue one…
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CAN A PICTURE PAINT A THOUSAND WORDS?
“Princes”, Anne Boleyn, Anne Neville, art, Baynard’s Castle, Catherine Howard, Cecily Duchess of York, Edward V, Edwin Austin Abbey, Elizabeth Wydeville, executions, Henry of Buckingham, Jane, John Everett Millais, John Morton, Margaret of Salisbury, Paul Delaroche, Philip Calderon, portraits, propaganda, Richard III, Richard of Shrewsbury, Shakespeare, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Three Estates, Tower GreenUPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/can-a-picture-paint-a-thousand-words-ricardian-art/ It’s said a picture can paint a thousand words. It certainly can but not always accurately. It can distort the truth. Art work based on the Ricardian period is certainly true of this. Take for example the stunning painting by Edwin Austin Abbey, Richard Duke of Gloucester…
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This is a portrait of Richard that does not crop up all that often. Known as the Sheldon Master, it is now owned by Sir Tim Rice. You can see its provenance in this article.
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After Buckingham’s rebellion, Richard III rode west from Salisbury, where he’d ordered the faithless Duke executed (interestingly, IMO, on the birthday of the elder ‘Prince in the Tower’ which may well be significant–who knows!) and eventually reached the town of Exeter, after mopping up the last of the rebellion…and the rebels. Although Exeter is not…
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