The "Streatham" portrait is an oil painting on panel from the 1590s believed to be a copy of a portrait of Lady Jane Grey dating to her lifetime (c. 1537–54). It shows a three-quarter-length depiction of a young woman in Tudor-period dress holding a prayer book, with the faded inscription "Lady Jayne" or "Lady Iayne" in the upper-left corner. Thought to have been completed as part of a set of paintings of Protestant martyrs, it is in poor condition and damaged, as if it has been attacked. By the early 20th century it was in the possession of a collector in Streatham, London. In December 2005 the portrait was examined by the art dealer Christopher Foley. He saw it as an accurate, though poorly executed, reproduction of a contemporary painting of Jane, had it verified, and on that basis negotiated its sale. The work was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in London for a rumoured £100,000, a sale of which the historian David Starkey was highly critical, challenging Foley's identifications. As of 2015 it is on display in Room 3 of the National Portrait Gallery. Although of historical interest, the painting is generally considered to be of poor artistic quality.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streatham_portrait
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1818:
On the first anniversary of its victory in the Battle of Chacabuco, Chile formally declared its independence from Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_Declaration_of_Independence
1855:
Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the United States' first agricultural college. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_State_University
1912:
Xinhai Revolution: Puyi, the last Emperor of China, abdicated under a deal brokered by military official and politician Yuan Shikai, formally replacing the Qing Dynasty with a new republic in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyi
1947:
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite (fragment pictured), one of the largest iron meteorite impacts ever observed, fell in the Sikhote-Alin range in Siberia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhote-Alin_meteorite
2009:
Just before it was scheduled to land at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York, killing the house's occupant and all 49 people on board the aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgan_Air_Flight_3407
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
cleave: 1. From Old English clēofan: 2. To split or sever. 3. To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting: the snow plow clove a path through the ice. 4. From Old English cleofian: 5. To cling or adhere to: she clove to him like a second skin. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cleave
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide. --Abraham Lincoln https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln