The Mystery
Caretaker
Period Specific
Glass
Color Purple
Medallion Jewel
Red Sleeves
Similarities
Eternalized
Unique
Signature
Provenance
Valuation
Absolutely
Visual Details
References
Information

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SIMILARITIES amongst the PORTRAITS

There are two known paintings of a lady that are remarkably similar to Toledo. Obviously Katrain is similar to these as well; especially in regards to her stance, facial expression and hand position. Really puzzling are some anomalies between Katrain and the three paintings as depicted here:
 

A major difference is the color of the lady's attire. In the three paintings, she is depicted wearing black/dark blue, but in Katrain, she is wearing a purple bodice with red sleeves.

The necklace on all four images has the same amount of pearls with the exact same placing. The pendant on the necklace is in all four images partly obscured by the white collar.

In Katrain, just above the medallion, the lead came is congruent to the hem of the partlet visible on the Toledo and Hever paintings. The angle of this hem on the NPG image is different.

More subtle is the depth of the eyes and facial structure, which is notably shallower only in the NPG portrait.

David Starkey (Phd) Ref. 7 notes on the Hever Castle Portrait: "Furthermore, the removal of later over-paint, which had the effect of making the picture appear a crude copy, in fact revealed a face of considerable quality, and painted in a similar manner to the NPG version."

The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) lists in the description of the portrait (# 1119): "In the background a layer containing smalt has been identified beneath a brown upper layer. The original background appears to have been blue which has discoloured and was retouched with brown".


NOTE: Smalt is a blue cobalt glass based pigment.