Sometimes you see something that is so wonderful that you simply have to share! This is a detail of a portrait of Catherine Carey, Countess of Nottingham, who was a very close friend and confidant of Elizabeth I. The detail in this portrait by Robert Peake is wonderful and you can click this link and zoom in to examine it more thoroughly. Because the dress was so spectacular, it was thought for a while, that it was a portrait of Elizabeth herself, but apparently it isn't! They were such good friends that Elizabeth lent her the dress for the portrait! However, there is some doubt about Catherine's parentage. Here is what Wikipedia says - Catherine Carey was born in about 1524, the daughter of Sir William Carey of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and Esquire of the Body to Henry VIII, and his wife Mary Boleyn, who had once been a mistress of the king. Catherine was Elizabeth I's first cousin. Some contemporaries also asserted that Catherine was an illegitimate child of Henry VIII which would make her Elizabeth's half sister. Although this was never acknowledged by the King, Catherine was given deference by the Court as she aged and came to resemble Henry. No wonder Elizabeth lent her dresses?
