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| Above:detail from NCMA.67.13.6
The most curious
portrait I've come across in a long time, and maybe ever, is this portrait of a long-necked Elizabethan or Jacobean ghost girl who bears a spooky
resemblance to the famously long-necked and ultimately beheaded Anne
Boleyn. The sitter also resembles Boleyn's daughter Queen Elizabeth I. I have no idea what to make of this portrait, which resides
inside a small but impressive collection of mysteriously unidentified
English portraits in the North Carolina Museum of Art. The portrait, and costume, seem intent on emphasizing her long neck offset with a jagged choker and a blood-red heart pendant. Combined with the thick white make-up this creates an altogether spooky effect Tim Burton would approve. Who is this ghost-girl courtier?
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| Above: beautiful detail from NCMA.67.13.6 |
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Detail: Unknown Woman NCMA left hand with cord-tied ring |
This small collection in the North Carolina Museum of Art has some beautiful Elizabethan and Jacobean portraits. I need to visit there soon.
From the North Carolina Museum of Art website:
