H/T to our Baguette Iselen, who brought this event to our attention and who we are quoting below verbatim.
On Tuesday, Queen Letizia will be back in England with Prince Charles, opening an exhibition about Zurbarán at the Spanish Gallery in Auckland Castle. Francisco de Zurbarán (1598‒1664) spent most of his artistic career in Seville, where he produced a series of thirteen life-sized characters from Genesis: Jacob and His Twelve Sons. The series was auctioned in England in the early eighteenth century in the sale of a merchant called Benjamin Mandez. Richard Trevor, the bishop of Durham, bought twelve of the thirteen pictures.
Being able to see a Zurbarán painting in real life is an amazing experience, unfortunately, pictures will never do his work justice. He was a master at painting fabrics and the way the light hits the body of his saints gives more texture to those fabrics. I don’t know how to explain this: even if you’re standing in front of the painting just watching, you can almost “touch” them and feel de cold satin and soft velvet in your fingers. The Prado Museum monitors the movements of visitors and has found that people stand in front of Zurbarán paintings longer than in front of other artists’ works to be able to check every detail.
Zurbarán’s wife was the daughter of a cloth merchant and, every time a new cargo of fancy fabrics arrived at the store, the artist painted one of his famous “saints” that were displayed in Seville. This way, high society ladies knew the last trends in oriental silk and Brussels lace, they went to the store and commissioned Saint Casilda’s dress or Saint Margaret’s cloak. It was the Seville Baroque Fashion Show, a 17th-century marketing campaign and a great success for Zurbarán and his father-in-law.
The Queen has arrived and has been greeted in style by the Prince of Wales. She is wearing her Chanel “Feather” earrings, possibly a gift from Queen Rania (H/T to Iselen!)
Sometimes the “crowds convulsed with excitement” are my favorite shots.
The Queen and Prince during the meet and greets – some photos before and some when leaving the gallery.
The Queen wore a Carolina Herrera dress and a pair of Magrit pumps.
The stars of the show – the gallery and the art!
Post your photos and comments below. We will be back with official photos as they become available.