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Washington, United States
loves: you win if you guessed "pets" and "museums". Also books, art history, travel, British punk, Korean kimchi, bindis, martinis, and other things TBD. I will always make it very clear if a post is sponsored in any way. Drop me a line at thepetmuseum AT gmail.com !

Friday, December 17, 2010

a wonderful portrait

Hans Maler [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I find this 1520 portrait of Queen Anne of Hungary and her dog (what sort of dog could that be?) very appealing. Though I'm sure the gown and hat she sports are of her time and status, the exaggeration of the textile and that fabulous hat with its whyisTHATthere jewel off to the side are to my modern eyes playful, even surrealist. And look at the collar her little friend wears. Very nice - well, you'd expect nothing less. Here's something interesting: though the painter of this, Hans Maler zu Schwaz, usually chose not to include hands in his portrait busts, he's done so here. Of course he did, if he was going to include the dog. Yet see how some feeling sneaks through the stiff, iconic gesture: the palm over the dog's chest, the thumbs almost entirely circling him, the dog raring to go.

Lovely. To learn a little about this lady, also known as Anna Jagellonica, go here.

5 comments:

Katnip Lounge said...

I'd love to have an outfit like that! To lounge in, of course.

curator said...

Oh me too. And I crave that HAT.

parlance said...

The fabric in that dress is wonderful. And I agree, the hands show love of the dog. (Or a realistic expectation that it's about to leap off her lap.)

Chet said...

Wonderful combination of colors and textures. Thank you for sharing this!

curator said...

I'm so glad you guys find this as appealing as I do!