The Ugly Duchess isn’t a post-modern surrealist painting. Nor is it a cover from Mad Magazine or an R-rated version of the Duchess from Alice in Wonderland. It’s a Renaissance masterpiece, created around 1513 by Flemish painter Quentin Matsys. No one knows who sat for the picture. Nor can anyone answer the really interesting question: Why did Matsys paint The Ugly Duchess? Continue reading “The Ugly Duchess” →