Queen Henrietta Maria

Those of us who were engrossed in last Sunday's Fake or Fortune? will recognise this lady: Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-69) as Saint Catherine. Philip Mould and Bendor Grosvenor bought her as a "sleeper": a painting thought to be more valuable than its estimated value at auction. The original painting had been enlarged and overpainted with a ghastly blue dress in the 18th century. It took almost 1,000 hours of conservation and the use of over 500 scalpel blades to remove the later paint layers to reveal a red dress. The face with its delicate curls of hair has now been attributed to Sir Anthony Van Dyck! The painting will be on display in the Banqueting House, Whitehall, London, until March (CLICK).