When the Medici exhibit was in Chicago, the Art Institute hired several of us frm Bristol's Guilde of St. George to do Italian Renaissance Court dances (in full kit of course) as part of the entertaining for the gala opening. After our performances were done, we all got to go thru the exhibit- after the paying patrons but before most of the public. Of course we were all fascinated by the portrait of Elenora and her son and we were all clustered around it cooing and ahhing over all the details we could finally see. After a few minutes I noticed that the gallery was very quiet and I realized that all the patrons had moved back against the opposite wall and were standing there watching us with rapt attention. I also realized that we must have made just the most incredible picture ourselves- a group in full 16th century court dress, still partially in our characters, in the midst of all the 16th century objects. Wish I could have gotten video of it. Karen Seamstrix
-- monica spence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hmmm. Interesting! Thanks for the info on this, Kate. Don't feel odd about the inarticulate noises... When I saw Eleonora of Toledo's wedding portrait (The deep pink (crimson) gown) at the Philly art Museum, after an hour of staring at it, I was trying to figure out a way to take it home with me... :-) And then there was the time that my friend Anna and I ammost got tossed out of the Metropolitan Musueum of Art in NYC trying to see the back of the leather fencing doublet that is on permanent display. Not a problem you would think until you realize that it is displayed in a glass case against a wall on a form... Sigh! Why can't museum people learn to display clothing correctly so it can be seen all the way around? (At least pit a mirror in the back!) Dame Catriona MacDuff -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Ailith Mackintosh Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 6:34 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: Bronzino (was Re: [h-cost] knit jacket was Re: ModaaFirenze1540-1580 I've seen the portrait!! It was the only reason that I made the 4 hour drive. What an adventure! We nearly got sucked up by a tornado. The car actually left the road for a brief period of time. Last year the Detroit Museum of Art was one of the stops in an exhibition featuring Medici art. She's nearly life-size and the bottom of the portrait was less than 2 feet off of the floor. I was on my knees in front of it making inarticulate sounds. The guards thought I'd lost my mind! ;-D It's a really odd combination. Her gown is black. The bodice is black and deep burgundy brocade; the upper sleeves and skirt are plain black. There's no trace of any kind of pattern in either the upper sleeves or the skirt. Her upper sleeves are ruched like those in the Panciatichi portrait. The lower sleeves are the same deep burgundy color as in the brocade of the bodice, though they are solid, not brocade. kate ----- Original Message ----- From: "monica spence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 11:58 AM Subject: RE: Bronzino (was Re: [h-cost] knit jacket was Re: Moda aFirenze1540-1580 > The lower sleeves are deep maroon in most of the repros I have seen. It is > funny that so many color reproductions vary in quality from place to > place. > Anybody ever see the real portrait up close and personal? And BTW, the > lower > sleeves (which tie into the armhole BTW, on the Lucrezia Panciatichi gown > are eggplant purple (aubergine). Makes for the possibility of interesting > color combos for costumers who do early 16th C. Florentine... > Dame Catriona MacDuff _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
