I consider myself lucky to have stood before The Royal Collection’s sketch labeled ‘Anna Bollein Queen’ and attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger, (1) twice in the last couple of years— once in New York City and again in Cleveland during the fantastic traveling museum exhibition, The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England. It…
Tag: Historical musings
Who was ‘The Witch of Plum Hollow’?
The history of “witches” is plagued with terrible tales of torture and unjust death sentences. These cases are tragic indeed. However, I came across a historical ‘witch’ whose life happily does not end with a gruesome execution. My day of folding laundry, cleaning, and attempting to tweak a cookie recipe to be healthier, took an…
It’s maple syrup season!
Yes, maple syrup has a season. If you live around maple trees, you may spot some buckets hanging from trees during late winter to early spring. Ideal temperatures for producing the sweet, amber treat are when the temperatures fall below freezing at night, but the days are above zero degrees. The sap from the trees…
New Article: The Rainbow in Elizabeth I’s Rainbow Portrait
While Elizabeth looks like she is holding clear plastic tubing, possibly to water the garden of flowers on her gown, it is widely acknowledged this item would have been painted with all the colours of the rainbow. So she is holding a rainbow in her hand, which I believe is actually quite a powerful statement….