Sunday Best

 

Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart, c.1638, Anthony van Dyck

I hurried over to the National Gallery again after work today and managed to scoot through the doors just before they closed for the evening (yes, I was that annoying person, security guard). This evening I purposefully walked in the opposite direction to the rooms I instinctively head towards, and ended up in front of this van Dyck painting of the Stuart brothers, who were also wards of King Charles I. Wow those boots and lace frilly sock things... Lord Bernard Stuart's outfit (on the right) is particularly opulent. I love all the lace and trimming, the pearl buttons and satin gloves.

In stark contrast on my way out, I came to an abrupt halt in front of this guy

 

 Portrait of Don Justino de Neve, 1665, Bartolome Esteban Murillo

No showing off of fancy frills here. I think it was Don Justino's determinedly steady eyes though, that made the painting feel so different to King Charles' wards. I love that the dog is the one wearing the bows in Murillo's picture. I suppose I have in small ways, been trying to adorn myself in lace recently with my homemade shoelaces. Murillo was a Spaniard, and very popular in Seville during the 17th Century. The Spanish know how to do lace. Click on the ladies below to have a look at some Mantillas I saw first hand last summer.

Mantilla

I've always really liked this painting by Picasso, of a woman wearing a mantilla (La Salchichona, 1917). This weekend while in Spain, I was lucky enough to see quite a few real life mantilla's in action, as the small village where I was staying, a couple of hours from Madrid, held a procession in honour of Corpus Christi. The village set up several little altars around the place, where the parade would stop off and the priest would do his bit. The ground around the altars were covered with grass and herbs that smelled very strongly in the dry heat. People hung their best tablecloths out the window to celebrate (the area in which we were staying is famous for its embriodery). Everyone dressed up to the nines - women with very high espadrilles wedges and men with slicked hair, chinos and suede shoes.

Picasso

Hannah