December 7: The Cholmondeley Sisters

I chose today's painting, The Cholmondeley Ladies, which is in the collection at the Tate, in London, because of the story behind it.

We don't know the artist or exactly when it was painted, sometime between 1600 and 1610, so late Elizabethan or early Stuart period, but it has a very interesting inscription, "Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family, Who were born the same day, Married the same day, And brought to Bed [gave birth] the same day". Wow! If only they'd both had twins too!

The Tate website says, "To mark this dynastic event, they are formally presented in bed, their babies wrapped in scarlet fabric. Identical at a superficial glance, the lace, jewellery and eye colours of the ladies and infants are in fact carefully differentiated. The format echoes tomb sculpture of the period. The identity of the women is unclear."

Isn't it exquisite?

More details are available on the Tate website.

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