Beneath the skin or the skin beneath

These leather gloves (embroidered with silk and silver gilt thread) in the V&A, London, are 400 years old but it's still possible to sense the owner's hands beneath the leather. They're so human it's unsettling.
Gloves were hugely important in 17th century etiquette - you can imagine these were a pretty impressive social statement. But they were clearly worn, not just touted around.

Idle days in captivity

... and Mary Queen of Scots' imagination ran wild. Taken so by surprise by these panels at the V&A that wanted to photograph them all.  But on second glance they are seriously weird. What DID she have on her mind?
These embroideries were made between 1569 and about 1585 while she was under house arrest in England.  George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury was responsible for Mary and she stayed at one or other of the Shrewsbury estates. Elizabeth (Bess) Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury worked with Mary Queen of Scots on these.

According to the V&A: "Embroidery was a form of therapy and communication for Mary, as well as a conventional occupation for wealthy and elite women. Most of the motifs depicted were copied from the wood-cut illustrations of emblem books and natural histories by well-known authors such as Claud Paradin, Conrad Gessner, Pierre Belon. These often represented sentiments and morals from classical literature and contemporary folklore, and were chosen by Mary to express her most private thoughts at a time when all her written correspondence was being monitored by her captors."

Folding stone

Stone carving on a tomb in the V&A - folds of stone cloth falling gently from the body. A foot pressing into a cushion and the spur falling off to the side.... Feet in death - why do they feature so prominently in sculpture? Memories of Christ's nailed to the Cross, I guess.