The first ceremony was scheduled for 12:30 and was for the staff and personnel of the estate. There were about 30-40 people in all. The Earl spoke about how he found Adrian for the portrait and why he chose him. He talked about  his sittings for him and how pleased he was about the overall […]

  The next day we tackled our main duty first, to get Adrian’s painting varnished. Our first stop was Cornelissen’s. He bought damar and mastic that he would mix to get the right varnish. We also found a curious bottle of lemon oil and were amused to find that the shop girl thought it was […]

The next day the painting arrived within the same hour of our arrival. After the initial unwrapping, everyone stood back to survey the frame itself, or rather its backside. But you could tell it was a handsome sturdy construction made of French white oak and carried Wiggin’s official signature. The Earl was visibly pleased with […]

We took the next couple hours before the second ceremony to have a nice tour of the private side of the house along the back stairwell that led up to the clock tower and to the roof. Our friendly tour guides pointed out the 400 year old Arabian cypress that had originally been potted trees […]

….”Before we settle down to our interview, Lord Pembroke takes me to see one of the newest additions to the house’s collections: a full-length portrait of himself by the American painter Adrian Gottlieb, completed in 2007.