Antonis Mor 1516-1576

[DonaCatalina]

Thanks Wenchie, that was very interesting.
Now this portait by Antonis Mor looks to be fairly typical until you look closely at the woman's face.
Does the cleft chin and hint of a moustache mean this was a male model dressed up in women's clothes?

[Adriana Rose]

It could have been a portrait of an actor.

[DonaCatalina]

Vespasiano Gonzaga just barely wears armor in this portrait, as opposed to other protraits wearing almost a complete set.
Did he run out of money? Or was he more interested in showing off his clothes?
(gotta love that codpiece)

[Welsh Wench]

(gotta love that codpiece)

Oh dear...now that is a confident man!

Or optimistic.

[DonaCatalina]

Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld-Vorderort (20 July 1517 – 22 May 1604) was an army commander and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1592 to 1594.
His clothing contains so much gold embroidery its hard to tell where armor ends and cloth begins.
(he is apparently lacking in optimism also according to Wenchie's definition) 

[DonaCatalina]

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo tercer Duque de Alba. Yes, he was Eleanor de Toledo's uncle.
In this painting, Anonis Mor departs from other works and really focuses more on the full suit enamaled and gilded armor. Barely any fabric is visible.

(my favorite brandy is named after him)

[DonaCatalina]

Not a dwarf- but another look at a court jester.
The work is listed in the 1600 inventory of Madrid's Alcazar Palace as "Pejerón, the madman of the Count of Benavente, with white stockings and jerkin and a deck of cards in his right hand." It was kept in the Treasury.
Mor probably made this work during his last visit to Spain in 1559. The jester appears full-length, standing, with a dark background and no spatial references. As he occupies all available space in the foreground, it is difficult to know his true height. He is sumptuously dressed in courtly clothing, and only his large head, short legs and deformed hand —the cards it holds symbolize leisure— bear witness to his condition and occupation, "the art of jest."

[DonaCatalina]

Portrait of Maria de Portogallo.
The face on this one has always struck me as oddly colored. But the gold bullion embroidery is finely detailed.

[operafantomet]

Earrings galore!

[Anna Iram]

Beautiful trim work. Reminds me a bit of a gold version of the trim Anea used on her blue gown.

Now isn't that earring style unexpected!? Where does that come from?

[operafantomet]

Beautiful trim work. Reminds me a bit of a gold version of the trim Anea used on her blue gown.

Now isn't that earring style unexpected!? Where does that come from?

If I remember correctly, it was only on the Iberic peninsula (Spain, Portugal) they were crazy about multiple earrings like that. Michaela de Bruce ( http://costumes.glittersweet.com/ ), who has done excellent research on Spanish 16th century style, once wrote about it and showed different examples. But 5 rings? Wow...

[Adriana Rose]

She looks like she had some sun before she sat for the portrait.

This may be a silly question but would the embrodery be real gold treads or just something that looks like gold? Judging by the jewels on her necklace she was rather wealthy.

[Anna Iram]

I was just reading Dona's post in "bowing to royalty". This lady was no doubt one of the "blue blooded" nobles she spoke of. Proud to be so fair and of pure blood.

[Rowan MacD]

Beautiful trim work. Reminds me a bit of a gold version of the trim Anea used on her blue gown.

Now isn't that earring style unexpected!? Where does that come from?

Love the earrings, I don't recall any other portraits featuring that many rings!

[DonaCatalina]

She looks like she had some sun before she sat for the portrait.

This may be a silly question but would the embrodery be real gold treads or just something that looks like gold? Judging by the jewels on her necklace she was rather wealthy.

One version of gold bullion used for embroidery was very thin gold wrapped around a silk thread. This is similar to the method for creating cloth of gold or gold shot silk. So yes it could be real gold, but I am not an embroidery expert so it could be one of several other techniques.