A recent article in various publications (including The Smithsonian magazine), looked at Franny Moyle’s suggestion that Holbein left clues regarding the identification of one of his sitters of his miniatures being of Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anna, Duchess of Cleves. It is not the first time this possibility has been discussed. Heather Darsie describes how Anna adopted the… Continue reading How we know the Tudor Royals from 1485 – 1558; and who painted them.
This pandemic is inspiring some lovely fictional tales. Ian is a naval historian and we met at a conference held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich last year, 2019, where we were both presenting papers to an international academic audience. This is a great story, based on real events during the reign of Elizabeth I.… Continue reading A VOYAGE OF SELF-ISOLATION – by Ian Robertson.
During the Renaissance, the myths of classical Greece and Rome entertained and inspired artists, poets, playwrights and in particular, Titian who used them to create a series of paintings for Philip II of Spain's private camerino in Madrid during the 1550s. Today, these myths and legends still inspire those with a creative mind. Loosley based… Continue reading Wilding – an ancient tale for modern times
Recently, Rebecca Larson of www.Tudor’sDynasty.com and I were communing about how to amuse ourselves during this Covid-19 crisis and what we could do if we ended up having to self-isolate. We came up with the idea of creating a new Decameron, the first version was written by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) in around 1353. So we are throwing it out… Continue reading The Tudors Dynasty Decameron 2020 project
Mell. Heather, welcome. As an art historian, I am interested in the various portraits of Anna and the iconography used by the family. I remember when we both attended the 500th anniversary celebratory conference of Corpus Christi College, Oxford and you disappeared for a morning. What were you doing while I was listening to the… Continue reading An Interview with Heather Darsie: Author of Anna Duchess of Cleves, The King’s Beloved Sister.
