--Previous Message-- : Hello Beth1, : : as another example of artistic licence, I : have in mind this portrait by Jean-Baptiste : Isabey of Marie-Louise of Habsburg-Lorraine, : Empress of the French (as second wife of : Napoleon I) and later reigning Duchess of : Parma. Isabey has depicted the Empress with : a ruby parure... which is actually an : emerald and diamond parure! : : : : The necklace and the earrings of this parure : are now in the Louvre Museum in Paris : (though not on display, unfortunately), : whereas the tiara (with the emeralds : replaced with turquoises) is in the : Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. : : : : : : I have seen the necklace and earrings in the : Louvre a few years ago (when they were still : on display in the Apollo's Gallery of the : Museum), and they are just simply gorgeous! : A beautiful Empire design, beautiful intense : green emeralds of the highest quality... It : is beyond perfection! : : More information about this parure on : Ursula's website: : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/napoleon-marie-louise.htm : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/emerald-marie-louise.htm : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/emerald-marie-louise-2.htm : (I think the portrait on this webpage was : digitally colorized to make the stones : green) : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/emerald-marie-louise-3.htm : : : : : --Previous Message-- : Sully's portrait of the young Queen Victoria : has drawn my attention to how artistic : licence can make it difficult for those : interested in royal jewels to identify : specific jewels with certainty from : paintings, or questions might be posed as to : whether the jewel had been reset. : See : : : http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMuseumPlus;jsessionid=6D4E1DCE187BAB140E98650CC9C801B1.node1?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/result.t1.collection_detail.$TspImage.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SelementList&sp=0&sp=0&sp=999&sp=SdetailView&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F : While Queen Victoria is wearing what is : obviously the diamond diadem, the artist's : rendition is different from the actual jewel : and might cause confusion to those who were : unfamiliar with it. : Do others know of portraits where artistic : licence might cause confusion or make : identification problematic? For example in : the recent post I did about Annigoni's study : of the Queen Mother wearing her Greville : emerald necklace and earrings, those : unfamiliar with the set might ponder if she : was wearing that demi-parure. : : : : : :