A Grotesque Old Woman...

I walked through the National Portrait Gallery but a painting I found in the National Gallery was still on my mind from a previous field trip. This 1513 painting by Flemish artist Quinten Massys is titled "A Grotesque Old Woman" (also known as "The Ugly Duchess"). According to the National Gallery, this is one of the most famous in its vast collection. I am attracted to this picture because of its uglyness. The plaque beside the painting in the Gallery suggested that Massys may have been making fun of the older woman that are still wishing to be young. It was easy to relate this painting to the modern time with every woman searching for new ways to hold on to their youthful beauty forever.

The plaque also suggested the historical theory that Massys was copying Leonardo da Vinci.

However, I researched the painting and found out that both suggestions are in fact, false. The grotesque painting is actually a portrait of a woman that was suffering from the rare Paget's diseas (osteitis deformans). Medical research tells us the diesease "enlarged her jaw bones, extended her upper lip and pushed up her nose. It also affected her hands, eye sockets, forehead, chin and collarbones." Because of its meticulous beauty, it is suggested that the sitter may have possibly been a true Duchess and paid a large sum to the painter for the portrait.

The most interesting fact I discovered is that this painting inspired illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.