Portrait of a Gentleman
Yesterday morning I stopped at a garage sale near my house. I was enjoying seeing what all was there. My eye was drawn first to a small yellow frame, then to the small portrait. It looked very much like my work from several years ago. Looking closer, I discovered my own signature on the painting! What a find!
In the late sixties through the eighties I painted quite a few miniature portraits on commission. Needless to say, I no longer remember who this gentleman is. (Does anybody happen to recognize him? If you do, I would appreciate your letting me know.)
When I went to purchase the painting (along with a few other items), the fellow in charge of the garage sale started “singing the praises” of this “actual painting” (as he put it). When I told him I had painted it, he smiled and said, “Well, you can just have it!”
And now, one little painting that left my hands twenty? thirty? years ago is back with me. It brings a smile to my face.
The size of the painting
A quarter helps to show the actual size of the miniature painting.
The tall fancy spire you see above the market booths is the Schoenebrunnen, or the Beautiful Fountain, and is very aptly named! It is the most beautiul fountain I’ve ever seen. And probably the tallest. The workmanship that went into making this is absolutely incredible.
Here is a close up of this fountain. The photo was taken through the fancy wrought iron fence which encloses it.
The golden ring is supposed to bring good luck when you turn it. Yes, it does move! Of course, you have to find it first, and that is no easy task! The ornate iron work is such that the ring blends in beautifully, and even the change of color does not stand out immediately.
And, unbeknownst to a lot of tourists, there is an iron ring on the other side of the fountain. Some of the local people asked me if I knew about this one, and when I said no, they beckoned me to this side and said that turning this one ensures that you have children. Apparently especially important after the plague which wiped out so many. Can you find it?
The first thing I did was to take a walking tour just to get a basic idea of where things were and what there was. Supposedly a 2 1/2 hour tour, ours lasted another hour because our guide took the time to answer questions as well as adding more information when the group showed more interest. Walking around the town also showed us very quickly just how steep the terrain was going up to the base of the castle. And from the base on up to the castle grounds was even more so!
On to Nürnberg, the next city where Maria Sybilla Merian Graf lived.