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19th November 2013, 15:26
#1
Tudor woman of 16th century painted with one reptilian eye
Now, this is really interesting. A woman painted in the 16th century has one eye that is human and one eye which is very obviously reptilian. In light of my Celtic thread, I was looking for the origins of the Tudors. Where did they come from and when did they appear in Wales? I was surprised to find this portrait of a high-born lady. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00pq8s7 Unfortunately the video is not working but you can see the woman's face when you click onto the site for a very short while. When I found it the first time, it didn't disappear so quickly. I've found the portrait now and she was called 'the mother of Wales (there is an explanation below).
"She is sometimes referred to as Katheryn Tudor, her father being Tudor ap Robert Vychan[1] and her mother Jane Velville. Her maternal grandfather Sir Roland de Velville (1474 - 25 June 1535), is said to have been a natural son of King Henry VII of England by a Breton lady.[2] Katheryn, who is said to have been a ward of queen Elizabeth, was the heiress to the Berain and Penymynydd estates in Denbighshire and Anglesey." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katheryn_of_Berain
"KATHERYN of BERAIN (‘ Catrin o'r Berain ’ , 1534/5 - 1591 ), ‘ Mam Cymru ’ (‘ The mother of Wales ’). Born in 1534/5 , Katheryn was the daughter of Tudur ap Robert Vychan of Berain, Denbs. , by his wife Jane , daughter of Sir Roland Velville (d. 1527 ), a natural son of Henry VII , whom Henry made constable of Beaumaris castle . Katheryn , who is said to have been a ward of queen Elizabeth , ultimately acquired by mortgage Penmynydd in Anglesey . She was m. four times: (1) to JOHN SALUSBURY , son and heir of Sir John Salusbury of Llewenni (the settlement deed is dated 11 Feb. 1556/7 ). They had two sons ( a ) Thomas (b. probably 1564 ) and ( b ) John (b. 1565 or 1566 ); John d. 1566 , before his father; (2) in 1567 to Sir Richard Clough (q.v.) ; she went with Clough to Antwerp , where he was concerned in business for Sir Thomas Gresham . It is said that Maurice Wynn of Gwydir proposed to her as he led her from the church after her first husband's funeral, but she refused as she had already accepted Sir Richard on the way to church, promising, however, ‘that in case she performed the same sad duty (which she was then about) to the knight , he might depend on being the third’ ( T. Pennant , Tours in Wales , 1810 ed., ii, 146-7)."
http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s-CATR-BER-1534.html
"Catrin Berain was the most powerful and wealthy woman in Tudor Wales. Rental income made her very wealthy - owning about 3,000 acres brought in a very substantial annual income.
Catrin nurtured her wealth and increased her influence through four strategic marriages. She had six children and numerous step-children, which is why she is known as Mam Cymru because those children went on to marry further into gentry families.
The record of pedigrees and rental deeds tells us little of Catrin the woman. There is a suggestion there that she is quite clever at manipulating the men around her. These kinds of traditions and legends would have really defined people’s image of Catrin."
"Welsh heiress, granddaughter of an illegitimate son of Henry VII of England, she contracted four profitable marriages and had so many children, step-children, grandchildren (32), and other descendants that she has been dubbed "The Mother of Wales"."
http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ca...in_(1534-1591)
Here is another portrait of this sinister woman caressing a skull:
Last edited by shamanseeker, 19th November 2013 at 15:29.
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19th November 2013, 16:35
#2
I had a shufty on google images & this was the biggest one I could find, it definitely is painted like that !
The chain & skull are very sinister, all that stuff (props etc.) has a meaning & language of its own, they are never just decoration, any art historians out there ?
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19th November 2013, 20:09
#3
The skull is typically a memento mori, a reminder of mortality,1 but given it's place in this picture and her pose, caressing it I would suggest that the most credible explanation is that it was included as a tribute to her first husband.2 The book: probably a book of hours, but the girdle is the most curious part, to my eye. Their is a peculiar link which looks as if it is attached to her finger, and is not properly formed, although all the other details in the picture are impeccably rendered.
- Very popular with Dutch painters who liked to contrast the permanent bone with the impermanent flower, or an insect.
- For anyone concerned, it is probably a 'prop' skull, added by the artist. Belief at the time was that an incomplete body could not be resurrected.
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21st December 2013, 05:05
#4