The apple of my eye.

Portrait of a Gdańsk female patrician.
Artist:Anton Moller
Current location:National museum Gdansk

As soon as I set my eyes on this portrait I  could not take my eyes off how beautiful the woman is in the portrait. This image intrigues me as I feel the main focal is on the woman. She does not need all of the props in the background. Her face is symbolic and intriguing enough. From this image I believe that this woman is possibly a part of the bourgeoisie , or of a higher class. Due to the indulgent what looks like  a red velvet gown. The ruffles, the collar, gold bracelets and chains round her neck. The red dress, embroided with gold may signify wealth and social class. Her head piece is adorned with pearls and gold its actually rather subtle in comparison to other Elizabethan head pieces I have witnessed. In the image it looks to me like she is holding a apple, or a kiwi I do not believe this woman is British. Which to me the fruit (if it is a kiwi) makes the image look exotic for that era, and original as I am yet to see another portrait of a Elizabethan woman holding such a fruit. Perhaps the fruit is connotating ripeness? Yet if it is an apple is is not yet ripe; possibly implying to me that the woman in the image is not pure or ripe.

The more I aimlessly stare at the picture the more I can see this destructive facial expression, (mainly on the right side of the face). I am not whether I think this because she has a rather structured face and brows making her face look a little harsh. I may be reading her body language wrong but to me she looks as if she is twiddling her necklace in her fingers; her body language looks restricted to me as if she is holding back something yet her face says otherwise. She could be holding her necklace like that as it could have great personal worth to her;i.e a relatives,or a present from a lover. Yet still so pure and beautiful. Her hair and brows are dark contrasting with her eyes and hair. The black backdrop makes gives the picture to me a dark, mysterious, interesting looking picture. Creating shadows on the face , to me suggesting there's a dark side to this innocent face.
This portait has inspired me to convey a message of innocence and simplicity.

Contemporary image.

Link:www.ew.com
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Natalie Portman to me is one of the most  classically beautiful  woman on this earth. This image to me connotates class, and elegance. In comparison to the Elizabethan portrait they both show visually pleasing faces. I can see similarity in the face as Natalie has a fair smooth complexion,rosy cheeks, and light pink lips. She has dark hair and brows her hair is sort of pushed back complementing her face shape. Her hair has been twisted and plaited into a bun (How very Elizabethan).

The styling in both images could be seen from my point of view as similar contemporary version of the dress. The dress is red, displays many different textures, ruffles,layers. The dress has been embodied with beads, and and what could be jewels. The dress goes in at the waist accentuating the figure, and flows out slightly. She is clutching her handbag, her handbag could be seen as her prop;there are many personal belongings in a woman's bags. In Elizabethan portraits often women wore something personal to them. posing in a way that promotes confidence like the Elizabethan image.

Styling Natalie.

If I could put a contemporary Elizabethan look together using Natalie Portman I would keep many Elizabethan aspects to it.

I would dress her in a red velvet Elizabethan style frock, with slim arms, the shoulders would be puffy but leather. I would put a high neck collar that starts at the top of the back to the top of the hair style made from leather but covered in pearls.

hair.
I would style the hair in a high bun layered messy bun with pink roses acting as the hair tie.

Face.
I would keep the face simple, a fair base yet glowing wit soft pink cheeks,slight soft pink eyes almost blocked out brows with a drawn on tin brow below the actual brow and pink cheeks. I would also use a stick on diamond style gem to resemble a mole

I would like the look to have a feminine look to it as Natalie has such a pretty face it would be a shame to ruin it, so I wanted to keep the makeup simple yet pretty. Which is why I chose the flowers and pink, and pearls to modernize the look.

Base,Lips&Gem mole

Brows (excuse the terrible lighting)

Glossy cheeks&skin