Two Women Wearing Cosmetic Patches

Fascinating small exhibition at Compton Verney focusing on an unusual 17th century painting of two women.

The pictures shows a white woman and a woman of colour both wearing beauty patches in a colour contrasting with their skin.

The work was shown with research material exploring the themes of the work. It discussed how it dates from the Commonwealth period and may be making a moral point about vanity.

It also speculated that the artist may be Jerome Hesketh, who trained as a Catholic priest, as it was possibly painted for the Catholic Kenyon family. He toured Catholic houses performing secret masses and painting portraits as his cover.

No end date given

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