There were several articles relating to Mary Queen of Scots over the time I was on vacation. I’m going to try to get them all into one post here.
First off: Mary Queen of Scots’ Death Mask on Display
From the BBC:
Mary Queen of Scots’ death mask, her sapphire ring and a casket worth £1.5m have gone on show in Edinburgh.
…
The wax mask was placed over Mary’s face after her death in order to preserve her features forever.
Eyelashes, eyebrows, hair and paint were added later to give the mask a lifelike appearance.
Unfortunately the exhibit is now over, but you can see a few pictures in the full article.
Next: Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots is an Original, not a Later Copy
LOTS of news sources had articles and pictures of this one! Synopsis: A portrait of Mary QOS in storage at the National Portrait Gallery in London was thought to be an 18th century copy turns out to be from the 16th century after all. Tree ring anaysis of the wood the portrait is painted on and a recent cleaning revealed the true age of the image. Here is a selection of articles:
From Art Daily (with large before and after pictures)
From The BBC (with pictures)
From The Scotsman (with pictures)
From The Times (with picture)
From The Guardian (with picture)