Stumbled on this. help solve the painting's mystery and receive £1000 reward on a first come basis to anyone who can offer convincing evidence. The whole story can be read at www.oldmasterdetective.com Good luck!
I would know. One thing I do know for sure! If it was mines than I would not display it on the wall with my children around! Look at the man which is standing next to the man in red clothing. Can you see something sticking out and pushing his jacket to the side.
I believe that every painting has a clue that tells the story. The clue of this painting is in plain sight, Yes that thing which is pushing his jacket to the side. I believe the man in red is pointing at him and accusing him of adultery and the other guy responses like '' Who? Me !?'' Look how he holds his hand against his chest and makes that gesture
That thing which is pushing his jacket to the side actually is not the "thing". It is a part of his costume. According to the fashion style of that time kings (and not just kings but noblemen) cover "the thing" with special box made first of metal (for battles) later it turned into a small sack made of expensive fabric and decorated with precious stones. They were of different shapes. In the dictionary I found the word "codpiece" (in French braguette). It had decorative meaning and emphasized "His Majesty's strength and power". In the portraits of Henry VIII he is always depicted in costumes with "codpiece". His official portrait is below. The man in the picture does not look like Henry VIII, he is not so gorgeous. Still I assume he is from the top nobility, if not from the Tudors dynasty.
Cromwell pushing the religious out of the monastery while a noble bids on the building and furnishings..............it will make a nice "factory" for a dozen looms to turn out woolen cloth..................... or not..................
And YES, it can be traced back as the origin of the term "Family Jewels"...........as in a "good swift kick" in the.................
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Found some interesting info on the origins of the codpiece and it seems that this painting may be depicting King Edward the 3rd as he thought that this piece of fashion showed his superior 'manliness'. It is not uncommon for the male tribes people of Papua New Guinea to display themselves in a similar yet less modest way for similar reasons. "Legend that Edward III, king of England from 1327-1377, had the codpiece of his armor enlarged to astounding proportions because he had heard that strength and military prowess were correlated with a man’s endowment. As he was in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War with the French at the time, it would not be surprising that he would try to seek any possible advantage available to him. He then ordered that the nobility and knights do the same to their armor. "http://www.r3.org/
Whew! Great challenge, Antiquer! I just burned most of my day on this research and have learned an incredible amount. I have a new-found respect for the men's Renaissance costumes, especially 1500-1530. I'll be excited if this does turn out to be Southern Germany. The style is the closest I could find in one painting I'll have to bookmark this conversation and watch for updates. Cheers!
I am far from having any knowledge of art but i wonder what this is in the archway. This is a blown up pic of the archway in the upper left of the painting. It almost looks like a person....or maybe i need more coffee. Either way, interesting thread and painting.
What's going on is obvious to me. Guy in red is saying: "Sire, forgive me but I could not help but notice that your pecker is showing."