This, in some cases, may lead him
to make of a somewhat inartistically designed jewel a beautifully
proportioned one. Again, he may be led to exaggerate the size of the
precious stones or pearls, and to intensify or deepen their colors. A
recent instance regards a portrait of the former queen of Spain by one
of the foremost Spanish artists of our day. The royal lady was
depicted wearing an enormous pearl; however, the artist informed the
author that the real pearl was much smaller than the painted one, but
that, in portraying it, a better decorative effect was obtained by
increasing its size. Whether Holbein (1497-1543), with his Dutch
exactness of portrayal, was led into any similar exaggerations we can
never tell, as little as we can know anything definite regarding the
true size of the jewels shown in the portraits by the Italian Zucchero
(1529-1566), the Fleming Lucas de Heere (1524-1584), or by any other
of the portrait painters of Elizabeth's time.
In a very modest way the addition of gilded scarf-pins, brooches,
chains, etc., not owned by the sitters, was not uncommonly practised
thirty or forty years ago, when colored tintypes were popular. These
were painted on the photographs, much to the gratification of those
who ordered them for distribution among their friends.
The court-jewellers of France in Shakespeare's day rivalled, though
they did not excel, those of England.
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