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Giovanna Tornabuoni

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To know of all the misadventures and paths that a portrait has passed through during the last 525 years is not by any means simple, but in the case of this extraordinary work by Ghirlandaio we are more fortunate. We know of all the journeys that this masterpiece has made due to the fact that they are all perfectly documented. I assure you that it has been more than exciting for me to follow his clues all over the world.

It remained in the Palazzo Tornabuoni in Florence, its first home, until it passed into the hands of the Pandolfini family. Later it formed part of Princess Sagan and Baron Achille Seillière’s Collection in France.  We know that in 1878 it was found in Brighton in Henry Willet’s collection, and that at the beginning of the twentieth century it was in the hands of Rudolf Kann. However it didn’t last very long with Kann as seen as in 1907 the American millionaire J. Pierpont Morgan, the founder of the J.P. Morgan bank and one of the most important art collectors in history, obtained the masterpiece. It is said that his desire to possess this art work was due to the memory of his first wife’s youth and beauty that the painting inspired, she died of tuberculosis at a very young age when they had been married for just under four months.

The image that is shown by the painting is from this period, here we can appreciate the painting exhibited on an easel in the entrance of a grand living room and surrounded by other great works of art. The room is the “West room” of 219 Madison Avenue, the Morgan family’s home in New York. Following J.P Morgan’s death, his son sold the painting in 1935 together with the other pieces from Baron Tyson’s collection, the father of Carmen Cervera’s husbands.

Baron Tyson brought it back to Europe where it remained in his favourite villa for many years, one of the Baron’s residencies in the city of Lugano (Switzerland). I can’t even imagine the sensation that you would have to feel on entering the living room of your house to find yourself face to face with a similar marvel…

Villa Favorita

But who was Giovanna? Her unmarried name: Giovanna degli Albizzi, the eighth daughter of a Florentine trader who, madly in love, married Lorenzo Tornabuoni on the 15th June in 1486. This was something relatively unusual for the period, in which marriages were made for convenience and not for love. Her wedding lasted for three days, full of parties, dances and banquets, being one of the most documented of the time. We know that Giovanna was married in white showing off a splendid hairstyle with costly adornments. She arrived at Palazzo Tornabuoni accompanied by her father where she was received by her father in law. The guests were made up of the Florentine cream of the crop. The guest of honor was: Dn. Iñigo López of Mendoza, Ambassador of Spain.

After the banquet all the guests moved to the Square that was in front of the San Michele church, and there, upon a stage richly decorated for the occasion, the dance took place. The bride and groom would pass the wedding night in a room in the Palazzo Tornabueoni, elegantly decorated for the occasion. The celebrations lasted for two more days and on the second day Lorenzo de Médici, cousin of Lorenzo Tornabuoni and one of the most influential men of the time, joined the banquet. To follow there were jousts and tournaments that Naldo Naldi narrated with the luxury of all of the history’s details.

Giovanna and Lorenzo had a son straight away. However, the joy in the house would not last long. Giovanna died scarcely a year and a half later than the wedding, when she became pregnant with her second son. The loss of his beautiful wife and the son that he was awaiting left Lorenzo in desolation, it was soon after that he commissioned the posthumous portrait. This was something very usual in this period.

Giovanna’s portrait is spectacular. It doesn’t surprise me that its previous owners fell in love with her as soon as they saw her. To have the privilege to enjoy this masterpiece in your own house must be something unimaginable…

Giovanna is beautifully portrayed, maintaining an upright and confident posture and transmitting a noble pose of serenity. Her firm gaze losing itself into infinity makes us imagine that it could be directed towards a window through which the light penetrates, a light that illuminates her face, her breast and her rich clothes but that leave her hands in a soft shadow.

The great contrast of colours obtained by Ghirlandaio is impressive: the blacks with the yellows, golds, reds and oranges. At first the work was framed in gold, or at least it was indicated to be so in an inventory of the Palace Tornabuoni in 1498. It speaks of a portrait of Giovanna, hung in Lorenzo’s bedroom in a golden frame. However, the mould that currently frames it is almost black, greatly highlighting her golden hair and the red tones of her clothes.

The portrait possesses a hypnotic power… I can assure you that it is hard to take the gaze away from her. Her gaze empowers her.

As it was to be imagined, my eyes went straight towards her broach: A beautiful piece of jewellery that Ghirlandaio knew how to draw with delicacy and care, hanging it over her breast by an extremely thin silk thread.

Whilst looking at her I wished that she would turn around so that I could contemplate her full beauty…

I Left the Tyson with a firm purpose to reproduce this beautiful piece that hung from her neck. This is precisely what makes me bring Giovanna Tornabuoni’s necklace to our Vintage space today.

If you live in Madrid or you are thinking about coming, make sure you set aside a moment to visit this magnificent portrait, considered to be the Tyson collection’s “Jewel of the Jewels” and one of the most emblematic masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.

Finally I attached a video of the great conference that  Guillermo de Solana  gave about this piece

 

[iframe width=”450″ height=”274″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/gUVzgJQTxos”]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zurbarán and Caprile in the Palacio of Liria

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I love reading gossip magazines when they publish a cover of a famous wedding. I take my time whilst looking at the photos: the dresses, the headdresses, the bags and the shoes… It thrills me to focus on all the details that surround the ceremony. I think that the atmosphere in which the engagement is celebrated together with the bride’s dress, are the two things that most strike my attention.

Due to this, when I saw the front cover of Hola last May with Asela Pérez Becerril and Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart’s wedding, I fell in love.

When I saw this dress together with the Palace of Liria… I immediately thought of Lorenzo Caprile, his bodices are unmistakeable.

I opened up Hola, skipping through the pages (of course) until I reached page 67, where I found the complete report.

The first image that I saw of the dress won me over completely… At that precise moment I knew I was going to write about him.

The “Toile” of Asela’s dress

I wasn’t mistaken; the wizard who had managed the marvellous resemblance was no other that Lorenzo Caprile. The rest was pure coincidence.

A few months after, Lorenzo’s right hand girl, Chiquín Figueroa, passed by our space. Chiquín is down to earth and upbeat. A few minutes later I found myself chatting to her, with my copy of Hola in my hand (I had it safely and well conserved) and expressing my desires to write about this dress to her.

My surprise was enormous when, after a few days, she called me to tell me that we were invited to visit the workshop, meet Lorenzo and to photograph the dress.

Our appointment (20 Claudio Coello Street): a beautiful building from the nineteenth century in the heart of the ‘Barrio de Salamanca’. Lorenzo’s workshop was overflowing, it was the end of July, and everything was being rushed to and fro. None of this flurry prevented Lorenzo and Lola from having prepared Aselas dress’s Toile for us.

Lola entertained herself by placing and arranging the bodice, the train, the sleeves, and the front gathering of the dress so that we could appreciate the piece in its full splendour.

The dress’s train fascinated me.

Lorenzo couldn’t have been friendlier. We started by talking about the bride. Asela has an art gallery: Espacio Valverde. Lorenzo told me that she is a woman of exquisite sensitivity. The bride was clear about the type of dress she was looking for. The most important for her was: that it fitted in with her surroundings… nothing more and nothing less that the gardens of the Palace of Liria.

What a marvellous place to celebrate a wedding!

Lorenzo’s inspiration arrived through Asela’s favourite classical painter: Zurbarán. The volume of his dresses, the way his fabrics fell and the grandiosity of his work were her inspiration.

The inspiration

Seventeen metres of fabric were needed. Satin and taffeta both made from natural silk were chosen, the Valencian brand “Catalá” was selected for weaving. Their experience of over more than 200 years and their magnificent weaving machines, unique in Spain, were considered by Lorenzo to be specified for such a delicate delivery. Not in vain, the silks of Infanta Cristina, the Princess of Asturias’ dress had come from their weaving machines, just like the fabric that decorated the Kennedy’s bedroom in the White House.

Who would be more capable than them to make a fabric that would seem as if it had come out of a Zurbarán painting?

It struck me greatly that Asela were to wear a ‘mantilla’ and a veil. Lorenzo explained to me that the idea was his. Asela wanted to wear a ’mantilla’ made from Brussels lace, an antique jewel of more than 2 metres of length that had belonged to his mother’s family for more than 100 years. Due to Asela wanting to enter the ceremony wearing the veil, Lorenzo decided to place the veil covering the face and the ‘mantilla’ just as the bride had dreamed.

The veil would be held in place over the head by a simple loop. Lorenzo cut the veil in such a special way that it would remain light and not take the spotlight away from the authentic jewel that dazzled below it: the nineteenth century ‘mantilla’. Lola stressed to me that the ‘mantilla’ is a jewel, one of the most beautiful and magnificent pieces that they have seen, and furthermore, perfectly conserved.

Lorenzo explained the details of the dress’s tailoring to us:

The inside of one of Lorenzo Caprile’s bodices.

The border of the bodice was made by Joan Cat, an incredible artisan that has worked for Lorenzo for many years, and who bordered the entire drawing that Asela and Lorenzo had chosen by hand. A floral jewel inspired by the front of the seventeenth century dresses.  

The smallest movement made by Asela would reveal the dresses petticoat, another small jewel finished off with lace edging and “valencien” lace. All of them sewn by hand.

Surrounded by patterns and rules, we enjoyed ourselves with Mar, the workshop’s manager. She explained to us, with all the luxurious details, how Lorenzo’s star piece was made… “The bodices”

One of Lorenzo Caprile’s embroiderers

 

Lorenzo’s bodices have between 14 and 16 rods and Lorenzo says that they were the antique version of plastic surgery. With them, women were able to cover their flaws and highlight their virtues.  

We admire the storeroom full of lace, tulles, lace bordering and embroidery that would provide delightful to any lover of high couture.

We saw Ana and Marian pass the lace’s designs from one tulle to the other on a bodice… This is a delicate and hard job. The lace is cut and sewn back again over the silk. All of this by hand, of course.

Cutting the lace and sewing it back over the silk.

 

Two months total of hard work: Isabel, Paco, Fran, Nines, Marta, Mar, Lola… were some of the expert hands through which the piece passed. Each one of them put in hours of work, but over all hours of care… The workshop breathes joy, illusion, professionalism and team work, and all of this is reflected in every one of their pieces. The love and passion with which they explained every detail surprised me. A great team of professionals, of this there is no doubt.

Workshop interior

I don’t want to leave out the comments about the details that I loved greatly too: the tiara worn by Asela, a nineteenth century tortoiseshell jewel that belongs to her family; the bride’s bouquet, a small and delicate bouquet of white roses.

The most important thing for Lorenzo was that the Bride trusted him from the very beginning, and it was stressed how the chemistry with Asela was perfect from the very first moment. It is clear that they formed the perfect tandem, and between the two of them they were able to complete the dream of any bride: to be dazzling on the most important day of their life.

For me this is the most magnificent bridal dress created in 2011.

Many thanks to Lorenzo Caprile, Chiquín Figueroa and all of their team for the care with which they treated us. Our many thanks too to Asela Pérez Becerril for letting us write this report.

If you would like to get to know Lorenzo Caprile better you can visit his website:

Lorenzo Caprile

Chiquín Figueroa and Lorenzo Caprile with Ana and María López-Linares

 

 

 

Will the Tradition for Veiled Brides Return?

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The tradition of the bride entering her wedding ceremony with a veil covering her face, so habitual in the Fifties and Sixties, disappeared little by little, until today when we find it extremely rare to see a veiled bride at a wedding.

When this tradition came into fashion it became popular to see the brides entering into church wearing veils. They excitedly walked down the aisle on the arm of their godfather, whilst all the guests contemplated their entry in admiration. Waiting at the altar, you would find the impatient and nervous groom. However, just before handing the bride over to her future husband, the godfather would reveal the bride’s face. The bride, now without veil, would dazzle in her abundant happiness during the rest of the ceremony, the groom being the first to admire her in all her splendour.

My great friend Monica wearing a veil on the day of her wedding

 

At the beginning, the brides kept the veil on until the priest pronounced the two most waited for words to the groom: “You may kiss the Bride”. In this moment, the now-husband would lift the veil covering his bride; he would place it carefully over her shoulders and kiss her. What a transcendental moment for a woman! Can you imagine the amount of times that the groom would have had to be explained how to arrange the veil in order for it to be placed favourably for the bride?

With the passing of the years the tradition changed slightly, as seen as it wasn’t very becoming for the bride to remain veiled during practically the entire ceremony. Her face remained covered and the photographs taken weren’t very flattering.  

The wedding photos that delight me, yet at the same time seem to me to be flattering for the bride, are those in which you see the veiled bride stepping out of her wedding car. This star-studded moment, in which the bride places her foot on the ground as she steps out of the wedding car, unveiling the best kept secret of the occasion: the wedding dress. The moment in which so much dedication and so many illusions and efforts are publicly shown is full of emotion and sensations for all women. In this moment all the brides are brimming with happiness. The photographs leave a record of all the hard work for later, in order to achieve the most dazzling day possible. This is why I love to see the brides entering whilst covered by a veil, for me, this adds a halo of mystery and glamour to the moment.  

A veiled Bride stepping out of her car in 1946

 

I would love to see this tradition come back. On some occasions I have mentioned it to some of the brides that have approached out Vintage space, in search of some special and different piece for such a significant day. I must say that I have had the pleasant surprise in having one of the brides agree with me that it would be beautiful to see the return of this tradition.

What about you, would you like to enter wearing a veil on your wedding day?

 

 

Coro, the “Duet’s” Master

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Coro & Corocraft was born from the hands of Emanuel Cohn and Carl Rosenberger, establishing itself in Broadway,New Yorkas a boutique in 1901 by the name of Coro & Rosenberger.

Soon after, and thanks to the success obtained from their exclusive jewellery line, they became so famous that they decided to open their own factory. It was here that they started their brand’s expansion and, in its time of greatest splendour, its employees reached 3500.

With Adolf Katz’ arrival as design manager in 1924,Coro’s Golden period began. His demanding style and exceptional talent were decisive at the hour of launching the brand at an international level. During the more than forty years that he occupied the post of the company’s manager, Katz was an icon of design and innovation.

The top-quality line, Vendôme, created by him in 1944 was his most exclusive brand and was distributed in luxury shops in all the big capitals of the world. Its success was so resounding that it became a subsidiary brand in 1953, and its pieces were sported by the majority ofHollywood’s greatest stars of the time. During this period Vendôme’s pieces were highly demanded by collectors.

Adolf Katz was a genius regarding his design and innovation. Delicate broaches and flowers with movement were created by his hands, a great innovation for the time, such as his famous enamels and his legendary “duets”, pairs of broaches that you could wear together or dismount them to wear separately. Due to these types of broaches and because of the type of fastener used,Corohad a lawsuit with Trifari. Katz had registered the patent of his fastener in 1931; however the similarity to the ‘clipsmate’ by Trifari meant that this company would begin a legal campaign againstCoro, trying to establish an artwork copyright for the jewellery design. Trifari won the case in 1954.

Between 1930 and 1950 the “Jelly Bellies” caused a huge impact. The impact was due to some little animal broaches with tummies made a colourful stone, a crystal in the shape of a cabochon, or a new plastic material called ‘Lucite’ (discovered by Dupont in 1937 and that gave way to a great revolution in the world of jewellery, as it easily substituted stones such as chalcedony and moonstone).

Another designer that contributed greatly toCoro’s fame was Gene Verecchio who started to work in 1930 and remained in the company for thirty three years. It is also worth noting his highly personal “duets” of camellias and owls. The pieces from the Thirties and Forties are the most valued by collectors.

Following the death of the two founders, Rosenberger’s son, Gerald, inherited the company, he died in 1967. His descendants sold 51% of the company to Richton International Corp. In 1979 the company fell into bankruptcy and only maintained the production inCanadauntil 1992, the year in which the last factory was definitively closed.

For all these years the name of Coro & Craft signified a milestone of quality and design, reflecting the latest fashion trends during nearly six decades.

Don’t you think it would be exciting to wear a piece designed byCoro?

They seem incredible to me, combined with a resounding black suit or with a night blue dress for a special occasion.

I assure you that it is worth passing by the shop if only to hold one of our collection’s delightful pieces in your hands. When you have one of these duets in your hands, I assure you that you will realize why the women from the Forties were so crazy about these pieces. They are of a masterful beauty.

We are waiting for you!

 

 

 

 

 

A Tiara designed by Miriam Haskell from 1930

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When we choose a piece of jewellery for our shop, it is because it transmits something special and magical to one of the three of us. It seems incredible, yet we usually coincide in our choices. It is curious that being so different we always coincide at the hour of choosing the pieces that are to enter in our space.

Although there are some pieces that we fall in love with more than others, each one has its fetish piece that will never be sold and that captivates us at first sight.

Today I want to talk to you about one of my favourite pieces. It is a bride’s tiara by Miriam Haskell. It inspired me as soon as I saw it; it appeared to be of such a sublime delicacy and exquisiteness. When I held it for the first time, the first thing I thought was, why would somebody want to rid themselves of such a proud and delicate piece? It was surely a special commission for some youth in the Thirties. I am sure that she would have fallen in love with the jewel at first sight, just as I did.

For those of you that do not know Miriam Haskell, I will tell you that this design and business visionary was born in 1899 under the wing of a family of Jewish immigrants fromRussia. Her family managed to reach a rather well-off position for the time. Miriam studied at theChicagoUniversityfor 3 years before moving toNew Yorkwith 500 dollars in her pocket, most probably lent to her by her family.

Soon after arriving she managed to establish herself at the Mc Alplin Hotel, which in these times was the biggest hotel in the world, holding a capacity for 2500 people. The hotel was situated right in the heart ofNew   York City. There she opened a small shop where she sold jewellery from the famous designers of the period.

A broach in the shape of a needle by Miriam Haskell

 

Miriam immediately decided to launch her own firm and contracted the services of Frank Hess, a young window dresser with an unusual aesthetic sense and taste for the time. Frank would rapidly become the brand’s Creative Director. He had a rather complex personality and his shyness made him feel more comfortable working in the workshop between sketches and stones, than attending the uncountable clients that visited his shop desiring to be attended by him personally. He was a very peculiar character, known for his tall top hats and his silver handled cane. He was very demanding with his employees.

On the other hand, Miriam was a vey attractive, elegant and intelligent woman and when she was in the role of the brand’s public relations, she was in her element. In this way they complemented each other perfectly.

They managed to become a great success in a very short time. In 1930 they were already rubbing shoulders with the most select and influential people in the artistic and social circles, so much in Europe as in Hollywood and New York. Women of the scale and influence of Joan Crawford, Lucille Ball or the Duchess of Windsor wore Miriam Haskell’s designs at these great parties.

Miriam Haskell earrings from the Thirties

In the Fifties Miriam fell into a deep depression, her state meant that the company fell into her brother’s hands. She never went back to work and retired soon after the end of the war, it is said that she was influenced by the horrors of the war itself and didn’t manage to overcome the disasters that she had lived. Frank continued to work in the company until he retired in 1960.

Currently, it is rather difficult to find pieces from the brand’s first period and the prices tend to be rather high.

Although the company continues making marvellous pieces of jewellery, many of them inspired by Miriam and Franks great collections, for me, they do not match up to the delicacy and sensitivity of the pieces made by them in those golden years. They made a magnificent “tandem” and knew how to transmit their enthusiasm and illusion to all the women of the time.

I will leave you a link to the brand’s current page so that you can judge for yourselves: www.miriamhaskell.com

The following photographs that I have attached for you are hand coloured prints by the artist Larry Austin. They are illustrations made between 1930 and 1940 and were used to promote the brand in shops and jewellers from all over the world. In them we are able to appreciate the beauty of some of the most sophisticated pieces.

Had you ever heard anyone speak of Miriam Haskell before?

 

Elizabeth Taylor and Avon, an Almost Unknown Collaboration in Spain

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Hollywood’s legendary star, Elizabeth Taylor, passed away a few weeks ago. The star’s life was most known for all her films, her Oscars, her scandals and her eight marriages that took up thousands of pages in the tabloids all over the world.

Her passion for jewels is what most struck me about her life. She has owned some of the most impressive jewel collections of all times, and some of history’s most emblematic pieces of the world’s jewellery.

The “Peregrina” Pearl mounted just the same way as when Elizabeth Taylor wore it

 

From all her Collection, the most written about jewel is probably “La Peregrina” (“The Pilgrim”). This precious pearl was found by a black slave in the sixteenth century in theGulf of Panama; due to this incredible find the slave was granted his freedom as a reward. The pearl was given to Felipe II (Phillip II) by Don Pedro Témez, administrator of the Spanish Colony. The King presented the pearl to his fiancée, Queen Mary I ofEngland, as a gift, she displayed the pearl on many an occasion.La Peregrinadidn’t return toSpainuntil Mary Tudor’s death.

The jewel was later sported by the Spanish Queens at many political events and in numerous portraits during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We can enjoy its beauty in the famous portraits accomplished by Vélazquez de Isabel de Borbón and Mariana of Austria, both of whom were wives of Phillip IV.

La Peregrinaremained as part of the Royal Spanish Treasure until the nineteenth century. It was then that Joseph Bonaparte, after finalising his reign onSpain, took the pearl with him toFrance.

The pearl remained inFranceuntil Emperor Napoleon III took it with him toEnglandduring his exile, where he managed to sell it to the Duke of Abercon. Years later King Alfonso XIII tried, unsuccessfully, to get his hands on it.La Peregrinaremained in the Abercon family’s power until it was auctioned off in London by Sotheby’s in 1969, where Richard Burton acquired it for 37000$ in order to present it as a Valentine’s Day gift to Elizabeth.

However, inSpainthe actress’ side that is truly unknown is her role as a jewellery designer. In the Nineties the actress designed various collections for the Avon Costume Jewellery.

Avonwas founded by a young door-to-door bookseller in 1886, called McConnell. He started by selling books and giving away perfume samples to clients, yet he immediately realised that the perfumes were much more successful than the books and decided to change business and start to sell perfumes.Avonalways maintained its direct sale strategy with representatives all over the world.

In 1920 the company produced a few talcum powders, and little by little started its global expansion and direct sales of cosmetic products. I am sure that all the Spanish, apart from the youngest, will remember the famous slogan: “Dong, dong,Avoncalling”.

A broach from Elizabeth’s Collection inspired by the film Cleopatra.

 

Avon wanted to go even further; in 1979 it brought out its first collection of costume jewellery. It consisted of three pieces: a broach, a ring and a necklace.Avonnever directly made it, as it had various factories subcontracted. Its products always followed a strict quality control and this, together with the collaborations that it carried out with the most famous designers of the time, made this company the biggest distributor of costume jewellery in the world.

It was in the Nineties when Elizabeth Taylor entered to form a part of the Avonteam. Between 1993 and 1997 she designed various collections; however the most successful were the ones that were based on the films Cleopatra, Elephant Walk and The Taming of the Shrew.

Elizabethwas famous for being meticulous and demanding, and we know that she supervised every detail of the design and fabrication of all the pieces that bore her name. All the pieces that the actress designed for Avon bore an “E”.

Heart and earrings designed by the actress from the “Hollywood” Collection

 

In 2005 Elizabeth founded her very own costume jewellery company: “The House of Taylor”, opening shop inBeverly Hillsand opening shares in the Nasdaq market.

All the pieces designed byElizabethatAvonare currently considered to be collection pieces, and their value in the American auctions that specialize in this kind of jewellery has duplicated since the actress’ death.

Were you aware of Elizabeth’s side as a jewellery designer forAvon?

You can enjoy all of her jewellery collections in this beautiful book with photographs by John Bigelow: “My Love Affair with Jewelry”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were Kate Middleton would you sport the Spencer Tiara on your Wedding Day?

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There is a lot of speculation happening during these weeks about the possibility that Kate Middleton will wear the Spencer Tiara on the day of her wedding to Prince William ofEngland. A few days ago, even the magazine “Hola” dedicated an interesting coverage to the famous tiara.

Since Princess Diana’s death the jewel has not been seen in public, remaining in the hands of its current owner, Count Spencer in “Althorp House”, where one can admire it in all its splendour.

This magnificent jewel has not been worn as a tiara for all that long. Due to this, one cannot really consider it to be a family relic, as seen as its history is rather recent. The evolution of this piece starts in 1919 when Lady Sarah Spencer, the single sister of the sixth Count of Spencer, gave a beautiful piece of jewellery to her niece in-law, Cynthia, as a wedding gift to her marriage with Albert Edward. Cynthia and Albert would later become the seventh Counts of Spencer, and Lady Diana’s grandparents (on the paternal line).

This jewel, which would be received by Diana’s grandmother as a wedding gift, was a sparkling piece in the shape of a tulip, and it would be the part that would later become the central piece of the famous tiara.

However it wasn’t until 1937 that the tiara was really converted into the jewel that we know today, and that many years later would be sported by Lady Diana. This year, four more elements were added by the prestigious English jeweller Garrard. We know that the cost of this alteration was 125 sterling pounds at the time.

Coincidentally, that same year and in the same jewellers, Queen Elizabeth II subjected the Imperial Crown that she would wear on the day of her coronation, to a few alterations. Would the two tiaras coincide in the hands of the same goldsmith during those days?

Only the two small elements that were decorated at the end of the tiara were truly antique. It is believed that they belonged to a tiara from the French Viscount of Montagu, and that they were inherited by Lady Sarah Spencer in 1875.

It doesn’t seem logical that such a significant day in the English Monarchy’s history, such as the wedding of its future King, the Queen of England would favourably view the fact that the Bride displays a jewel that doesn’t belong to the British crown. It seems fit to wait for the opposite to happen, that the Queen would give one of her magnificent tiaras as a gift to the future wife of her beloved grandson. There by the bride that would one day succeed her as the Queen of England would wear one of the pieces from the Royal House’s collection on such an important occasion.

In the supposed case that William would desire to pay a posthumous tribute to his mother, he would be obliged to ask his uncle for the loan of this famous tiara, as seen as the current Count of Spencer is its legitimate owner.

Reproduction of Lady Di’s engagement ring in silver and zirconites.

William had wanted to have his mother present when presenting Kate with the same engagement ring that Lady Di received from the hands of his father on the day of their engagement in February 1981. The jewel is a magnificent ring, with an oval-shaped 14 karat Ceylon Sapphire with a surrounding halo of 14 shining stones, mounted over white gold by the famous jewellers, Garrards. This jewel was chosen by Queen Elizabeth and her son Charles for the significant date. Its price was 28000 sterling pounds.

The Spencer tiara is a truly dignified jewel for a Queen, however it is also true that perhaps Lady Di’s controversial figure should allow Kate to be the protagonist on an occasion this important, if it is finally decided that the same tiara is to be worn as on the day of her wedding.

What would you do?

 

Cecilia Gallerani, Ludovico il Moro’s Adolescent Lover

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 “Lady with an Ermine” arrived to me in a most unexpected way. All of a sudden my Twitter’s entire Time Line filled with news about the arrival of this portrait, by Leonardo da Vinci, toMadrid. They said it wasPoland’s most valuable jewel.

I was inspired by the portrait from the very beginning. The hairstyle and the type of veil that covered her face almost until her eyebrows powerfully called my attention. I wanted to know everything about her… What strange animal did she hold in her arms? The reason for her lost gaze and enigmatic smile, and her necklace… were they pearls or jets? I wanted to have this necklace on our space. I love those long necklaces that were worn so much later in the Twenties. They are one of my favourite accessories, I use them nearly everyday.

I didn’t hesitate for a moment in my decision that I had to write a post about her.

My first idea was to go and see her and then start writing. However, I immediately decided that I preferred to get to know her before, investigate her life, and try to understand what she was like when Leonardo painted her. After, I would go to see her and tell you my impressions.

Her name is Cecilia Gallerani, born in Sienna in the heart of a family with no noble title but a very good economic situation, due to the fact that her father wasFlorence’s ambassador. Her father knew how to transmit his great passion for the arts to her. She loved literature, music and was able to speak Latin perfectly. She wrote beautiful poetry in Italian. All this made her into an unusually educated woman for her time.

She arrived inMilanat 16 years of age and with an elegant introductory letter and her graceful beauty, she didn’t take long to enter and form part of Ludovico Sforza’s (Ludovico il Moro) court.

Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and one of the most powerful and influential men in all of the Italian Renaissance, it isn’t surprising that he fell in love with her nearly instantly and that he would make her his concubine, his official lover, when she was barely 17 years old. Cecilia provided him with a son and Ludovico would donate to him Saronno’s fief in recognition of his love.

Cecilia converted him into one of the protagonists of the numerous social gatherings and cultural activities inMilan’s court. She was compared to fascinating women from the early ages such as Aspia of Miletus (Pericles’ wife) or Asiotea (Plato’s student).

During these years Leonardo worked under Ludovico’s orders as master of ceremonies and the ducal kitchens, by which case Cecilia and he would coincide on various occasions in the Sforzesco Palace of Milan, being logical that Ludovico would commission a portrait of his lover from Leonardo.

Will Leonardo manage to transmit Cecilia’s whole personality? I need to go and see her, and this is exactly what I am going to do tomorrow. Later I will continue telling the story…

Cecilia’s necklace in our space

Following my visit to the exhibition on the 28th June in the Royal Palace of Madrid:

Years have passed since I last entered theRoyalPalaceand the truth is that its Parade Ground impresses me every time I step into it… The rooms on the west wing’s ground floor have been the setting chosen bySpain’s National Heritage and Krakow’sNationalMuseumto host “Lady with an Ermine” in its visit toMadrid.

Following the visit to various rooms containing paintings, arms, armour, coins, sacred art… the uncontainable emotion of feeling close to my desired object started to make me feel impatient. Suddenly, as soon as I entered the room dedicated to western paintings in the Polish nineteenth century collections, between the works of art of King Stanislaw II Augustus Poniatowski’s collection, I ran into “Girl in a frame” as if she wanted to step out of the painting, it is the impressive work of the brilliant Dutch master Rembrandt, about whom I would like to tell you all something one day.

Finally as if it were the Golden broach of this magnificent Collection, with no other piece of art in the room to distract my attention, I found myself face to face with her.

What had so called my attention previously, through the illustrations, was the transparent gossamer, finished off with a golden thread that subtly covered her head until just above her eyebrows. Across her, one may perceive her black straight hair falling over both sides of her face and gathered up in a plait. She wears a pearl necklace. The pearls have a special dark toned iridescent shine.

It is improbable that the strange animal that is held over her breast is an ermine. This mustelid is too wild to pose docilely for a portrait over a lady’s arms. It seems that Leonardo used a ferret or an albino polecat, much more easily domesticated and very similar in size and corpulence to the ermine. Perhaps Leonardo used this animal to allude to the name by which Ludovico was known: Ermellino (ermine), or to the fact that Cecilia’s surname coincided partially with this animal’s Greek name (gale).

Leonardo definitely achieves it… Cecilia speaks to me as she peers at me. She transmits goodness, serenity and intelligence to me. Her gaze is both serene and enigmatic at the same time. She is the powerful Ludovico Sforza’s lover, yet her face expresses sweetness, distinction and security. I think she is a self confident lover. She is the concubine of one of the most powerful men of the Italian Renaissance and she shows herself to be proud of this.

I reflect over the differences between today’s youngsters and the contemporaries of Cecilia. Today, a 17 year old is only an adolescent, at the most studying for a high school degree and only worried about clothes, friends and parties.

In the Renaissance a youngster of this age would already be married, probably with a man double her age, which she would hardly know and not love. She would be the mother of more than one child or, even worse and against her will, the lover of some influential and mature man.

Does it not seem incredible to think how these girls lived during the Renaissance?

 “Lady with an Ermine” has survived two World Wars, the pilferage of the Nazis, various robbery attempts and now, for the first time since its creation by the hand of the ingenious Leonardo, it finds itself inMadrid. I sincerely think that it is worth the effort to go and see this magnificent piece of work. It is very rare that it has leftPoland where it was adopted in 1800 and I don’t think it will be possible to see it again inSpain now for many years.

 

 

One brooch and Two Leonors

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What a coincidence!

Two nearly parallel lives, united in the twenty-first century by a piece of jewellery. An oval shaped broach with a beautiful stone in the centre and a large hanging pearl, which was used in its time as a pendant in a magnificent pearl necklace and as a brooch to finish off a beautiful head band.

After nearly 500 years, we continue to admire the beauty of this piece, immortalized by two great masters of the Renaissance paintings, Bronzino and Joos Van Cleve.

Two exciting lives, two women that fought, suffered and travelled. Two women that have made their own history and from this history we are left a few portraits displaying Leonor’s brooch.

Leonor of Toledo painted by Bronzino.

 

Our first Leonor, Leonor of Toledo was the granddaughter of the second Duke of Alba, born in Alba de Tormes and at 20 years of age married inFlorence to Cosme I of Medici, the marriage produced 11 children of which only five reached adulthood. It was only a few years after the celebration of this wedding when Bronzino, of whom Leonor was the unconditional patroness, made this famous portrait that you can find in the Uffizi Gallery inFlorence. In the painting we see a very young Leonor showing off a broach on her neckline, with a magnificent pearl necklace. Her gaze transmits a sense of security and serenity to me.

A woman of extraordinary wealth from both her family and marriage, she never forgot her pious obligations and thanks to her insistence, the Jesuits installed themselves in Florencefor the first time.

Entrepreneurial and pioneering for her time, she took such interest in the agricultural and financial subjects that her knowledge contributed enormously to the expansion of the Medici’s farming business. Her capacity and dedication gave her husband all the more reason to trust in her, to the point of leaving her regent of all his matters during some of his numerous trips.

It is said of her that she was the only person capable of calming the bad moods of her husband, and that many people resorted to her in search of help for favours from her powerful husband.

She wasn’t Queen but she lived in two palaces fit for the most dignified of all “The Palace of Medici Riccardi” and “VecchioPalace” both of which are in Florence.

There was a legend that existed in her time about her death that spoke of revenge and assassinations. Following the legend it appeared that her son Garcia of 16 years, had killed his brother Giovanni of 19 and that the father, Cosme I, when learning about this vile murder, killed his son Garcia with his very own sword.

What is true is that he died soon after his two sons and although we know it was from malaria, we can imagine that two losses so soon after one another would have weakened his delicate health even more.

We can still admire the funeral dress conserved in the ‘Palazzo Pitti’s’ Costume Gallery.

Leonor of Austria

Our second Leonor born Infanta of Spain in Brussels, daughter of Felipe el Hermoso (Phillip the Handsome) and Juanala Loca(Joanna the Mad), was the first of the six children of this famous marriage.

Separated from her parents at a very young age, due to them having gone to Castilein order for her mother to be crowned Queen, following the death of Isabel the Catholic. Leonor was brought up by her aunt Margarita, a woman of great rigidity, but who knew how to provide her with the care that a child of this early age needed and who loved her as if she were the girl’s very own mother.

Although from a very young age she would have realised that she had been born to be Queen, at 15 years of age she fell madly in love with a dashing gentleman named Federico, her brother Carlos (Charles) was enraged tremendously by the situation, and expelled the audacious gentleman, who dared to write a love letter to his sister, immediately from the court. In the wedding arrangements for her brother, Carlos did not contemplate a wedding for the sake of love, but instead a wedding for mere political interest as was needed at the time and even more so due to whom she was.

Leonor was called upon to be Queen and due to this she was lined up to possibly engage the most important Kings of her time like Henry VIII, Louis XII of France, Sigismund I of Poland and the principal heir to Portugal, Juan. Finally she ended up marrying the father of the last, King Manuel I ofPortugal, recently widowed he fell madly in love with her when they sent him her portrait in order for him to become familiarised with her. His son Juan never forgave this offence and the confrontation between father and son was such that King Manuel ended up expelling his son from the Portuguese court for fear of his own integrity.

Leonor became Manuel’s widow at the mere age of 23, with a small daughter named Maria who she was obliged to abandon inPortugaland did not see until 23 years later. From Portugal she moved to her brother Charles’ court with which she always shared a greatly caring relationship.

A few years alter becoming widow; our Infanta was contracting marriage with her second husband, the one who would take her back to her place on the throne, this time as the Queen of France. In this second marriage she would not be as happy as she was in the first. It was a marriage of political convenience as was the previous; however Leonor, older and becoming ill, didn’t manage to integrate herself in this court which was much more luxurious and refined than what she was used to; this together with her husband’s continuous infidelities made this perhaps the unhappiest period of her life.

Yet thanks to her character of natural goodness, comprehensiveness and simplicity, and to her privileges as the Queen of France, she managed to help the needy on numerous occasions, this won her the unconditional affection of the French population.

From this period of her life comes the magnificent portrait by Joos Van Cleve that is conserved inViennaand in which we can appreciate the beauty of our broach adorning Leonor of Austria’s hair.

Meanwhile Bronzino painted the famous portrait of Leonor of Toledo our Infanta, widowed by her second husband after 17 years of marriage, due to having no descendants and no real reason to keep her in France, Leonor returned immediately to the court of her brother Carlos, who she adored, and where she remained till the day she died in 1558.

Two great women and two great widows united by this broach of Renaissance jewellery, if you would like to have this magnificent copy in your hands don’t hesitate to visit our Vintage By space of Madrid.

Would you be capable of finding a twenty first century look for this magnificent sixteenth century broach?

Girl with a Pearl Earring (J. Vermeer 1632-1675)

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After seeing a certain painting in different publications or art catalogues so many times, when the moment finally arrives to find myself face to face with it for the first time, I am flooded by a sense of disquietude and nervousness. The image is so familiar to me that I don’t think I will be capable of contributing new feelings to those that I have already experienced. Will it be bigger or smaller than I imagined? Will the colours be lighter or darker that I imagined?

The colour, the light, the size of the canvas including its frame, these are the details that you cannot appreciate in their full splendour until you behold the painting with your own eyes. I think that seeing the painting itself, however many times you may have seen it in publications; will always surprise you more than you think. At least this is what always happens to me.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Finding myself face to face with “Girl with a Pearl Earring” produced a much greater feeling inside me than I had expected from this particular piece of art. It is a rather small oil painting, it measures 45×39 cm. This magnificent portrait by Vermeer has a beauty so surprising that it captures you instantly. Many consider this painting to be the Mona Lisa of the North, comparing it with Leonardo Da Vinci’s emblematic masterpiece.

Would it be the eyes; the youngster’s gaze; the light that Vermeer always painted so masterfully, or the reflection of the pearl that captivated me from the very beginning? All of this is of a surprising beauty.

On one hand the youth transmits a feeling of innocence and sensitivity to me. Her gaze seems so sweet and juvenile… Yet on the other hand, her humid and full lips convey an exciting sensuality to me. Altogether I think that she directs a gaze loaded with cheek and insinuation at the spectator.

I must admit that my eyes went directly to the earring, a simple pearl of substantial size. Plinio said that women had the custom of hanging pearls from their ears for the pleasure that it caused them when the pearls stroked their skin whilst moving.

I fell in love with this pearl, the simplicity of its montage and its size. For me, the pearl was the focal point of this painting. It is because of this that I didn’t rest until I found the most similar jewel to these earrings. This happened in a goldsmith inFlorence, specializing in reproductions of Baroque pieces, where I found these that I bring to our Vintage space today.

If you have the opportunity to see this magnificent masterpiece, don’t miss out on it. I would love to know your opinions about her. She is currently in the Royal Picture Gallery inThe Hague.

I hope you like it as much as I do.