{ art history }

Above the fireplace in my living room hangs this gorgeous painting by Paul Delaroche.

My sweet Papa commissioned an artist to reproduce this famous painting for me for my birthday last year. This painting is displayed in the National Gallery in London, and I fell in love with it when we were there. I guess to some { including a few people who comment on it every time they visit } it is a morbid subject matter, but to me I just see the innocence, but then again I know the history behind the painting, and have seen it's beauty in person. I love the history behind the art, and have read every book I can get my hands on about Henry the VIII, all of his wives, and Tudor history. In fact, I've said this before, but I love the Tudors on HBO, and I was so excited when Papa and I were able to actually go to England and see it all for ourselves. I'll have to share some pics soon. Anyway, I guess it kind of bothers me that some people feel that this painting is so gruesome. I'm going to share some information from an article in " The Weekly Standard " about my beloved painting. I was so happy when Papa brought the article to me this morning and I could read more about it. The article is titled " The Art of History....A reassessment of Paul Delaroche" by Henrik Bering.

In reading the article I found out that the painting was found in the cellars of the Tate Gallery in 1973, that's the year I was born, and just reiterated the fact that this painting belongs with me.

It was a huge 97 x 117 inch rolled up canvas, that was believed to be lost in a flood of the museum in the 1920's. The painting depicts a 16 year old Lady Jane, blindfolded and kneeling in front of a scaffold, donning a beautiful white gown groping for the chopping block, while she is supported by Sir John Brydges, the Lieutenant of the Tower. Her ladies in waiting are in agony on the left, and the executioner stands solemnly on the right. The article goes on to say that when the painting was put in a show in the Paris Salon in 1975, it was considered in bad taste, and they expected the museumgoers to emphatically disapprove of the historical painting. In the catalog they noted that French painter Delaroche "is regarded, when the 20th century thinks of him at all, as something of a

charlatan who merits his present obscurity", the article goes on to say that " much to the curators surprise--and disgust, no doubt---Lady Jane Grey quickly turned into one of the museum's most popular paintings. The floor in front of it had to be constantly repolished.". The museum also now has a full dress exhibition of Delaroche.So, there you have it, validation for my morbid painting.... I feel better now.

Okay, with that all said, and me feeling so much better, I'm going to share the pictures of the project my sister and I had going on yesterday which involved moving a very large bookcase from my studio into my living room. Many thanks to my sweet neighbor and friend who came right over and helped us move that big ole bookcase.

So there it is after us three ladies moved that huge and awkward bookcase into it's new home. What do you think? Is it an improvement. I have been wanting a bookcase there for a while now, but since I'm on such a budget, I knew I wouldn't get one anytime soon, so over our morning coffee, my sister and I { or maybe just me } decided to give moving one from my studio into that space a try. I really like it alot, it gives just the right amount of height to balance out the huge window on the other side of the room { seen below }. Papa and I are avid readers, and I can't pass up a book, so we have lots of them. It was very hard for me to even weed out a few so I could get some pretties in. I could probably do a little better with the arrangement in the future, but that was a quick fix, so that when Papa came home to his surprise it would at least look pretty. My spur of the moment redo did get his approval...whew,

all that moving was well worth it, but you don't even want to see the mess it stirred up in my studio....

I'll save that for another LONG post. { Thank You again to my sweetest baby sis AKA miss fruity *wink* }

So there you have it, one huge project down and another to go. For now though I'm off to mow my lawn. How do you feel about riding a lawn mower to the beach? I know right....that doesn't sound to appealing huh,but that's what it's like when I spend 4 hours mowing our property { * laughing* was I the one who said I wanted an extra lot for privacy?....oh yeah...I did....eeega weega....what was I thinking? }. Truthfully I really enjoy it, especially knowing that I can help Papa out, and he doesn't have to spend his Saturday on a mower when he could bespending it with us. Plus I think I read somewhere that it's good for your brain and creativity { yay for me }

*peace & love*

Carrie

p.s. I've been thinking of painting the fireplace surround, do you have any suggestions on color?