tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581617218320496354.post2422572902118014314..comments2023-09-11T06:44:10.530+01:00Comments on Sophie Ploeg: Alathea TalbotSophiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10305269093118541197noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581617218320496354.post-8224856087037925892014-08-08T18:56:37.649+01:002014-08-08T18:56:37.649+01:00Hi Emma, thanks for your comment! Glad you found m...Hi Emma, thanks for your comment! Glad you found my post. Yes I thought it was an interesting experience as well: this tiny museum, with nobody there, a tiny exhibition with a couple of true gems there. The Alathea portrait is way too beautiful to be put away like this - and soon it will go back to its home - only to be seen when on loan or when you sign up for a course there!<br />Interesting that you think the pendant is not diamont but malachite! I thought initially it was emerald but a curator convinced me it must be diamont. I must research malachite! Any of that in, for example, the Cheapside Horde? I think the IHS pendant must also be a clue as to who this lady is - and I have some doubts it is Alathea, as not everyone owned a jewel like this. All very interesting and intriguing! Thank you!Sophiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10305269093118541197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581617218320496354.post-44201710042322789922014-08-08T17:55:41.995+01:002014-08-08T17:55:41.995+01:00I just met Alathea Talbot (well, her portrait) thi...I just met Alathea Talbot (well, her portrait) this morning at the 400 Years Of The Selfie exhibition. I haven't been that utterly blown away by a picture for quite some time - the encounter seemed all the more unexpected and intense because I was utterly alone in this somewhat neglected little museum face to face (no dividing wires or ropes) with this treasure, this 400 year old woman. I was utterly captivated! I felt almost drunk on it!<br /><br />Thank you for this wonderful article on her.<br /><br />I too noticed that the face and lace looked as though they were painted by a superior artist while other parts of the costume looked much more loosely-painted, probably by an apprentice. That was not at all unusual.<br /><br />It happens that I looked looked very, very closely at the IHS pendant there this morning (I think I was looking at her for hours!) and to my eyes, rather than looking like green diamonds, it seemed to be almost impossibly minutely rendedered malachite. The artist painted in the veins that you see in the green stone with incredible precision. I would guess the green one in this painting must be a different or altered version of the one in the V&A because it appeared to me at least that that was malachite beyond a shadow of a doubt. The artist was that good!Emma Toothhttp://www.emmatooth.co.uknoreply@blogger.com