Archaeologia: Miscellaneous Tracts
ARCHAEOLOGIA: OR, MISCELLANEOUS TRACTS, &C. I.—Remarks on a Portrait in the possession of Earl Stanhope, P.8.A. represent- ing the Empress Leonora of Portugal, mother of Maximilian I. By GEORGE SCHARF, Esq. F.S.A., with additional observations by AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON FRANKS, Esq. V.P., in a Letter to Mr, Scharf; together with Notes on a Portrait in the Dresden Gallery, by DR. JULIUS HUEBNER, Curator of that Gallery. Read May 23rd, 1867. I FEEL much honoured by permission to offer a few words upon the curious and finely-preserved portrait of the Empress Leonora, mother of the great Maxi- milian, which our noble President exhibits before the Society this evening. It had for some time been supposed to represent one of our English monarchs living after the middle of the fifteenth century, and the words " Henry 6th," although written in somewhat recent characters on the back of the oak panel, tended considerably to strengthen that impression. The arched crown was favourable to the name which had thus been suggested. The richness, however, of the jewellery, and the peculiar construction of the crown, combined with a singular arrangement of lacing the dress in front of the neck, had always excited considerable feelings of uncertainty as to the correct- ness of the attribution. The very long rich brown hair, and the golden damask robe, patterned with crimson and faced with white fur, were peculiarities of costume somewhat hard to reconcile with the more generally known portraits of our English monarchs of that period. VOL. XLIII. B 2 Portrait of the Empress The picture (of which a chromo-lithograph is given in Plate I., reduced to a scale of two-thirds of the original,) may be described as a bust-portrait, with the face seen in three-quarter view, turned towards the spectator's right.
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