[log in to unmask] wrote: > The 'Ferret' painting of Queen Elizabeth I is, presumably, the famed >'Ermine Portrait', located at Hatfield House. [...] > (The beast depicted is clearly intended to be an ermine. I have >heard it suggested that a ferret was used to pose, but not only is >the animal much too small--the idea of a ferret holding still long >enough to be painted is to laugh!) Well, I can say one thing - they didn't have an ermine pose for it ;-) Having nursed a least weasel back into health, I can tell you that these animals make ferrets look like they're encased on molasses and bolted to the floor. On the other hand, a ferret or polecat would have been a good size for a model, and modern-day artists are still using specimens prepared by taxidermists... [Albeit these days they appear to be using pre-existing museum specimens rather than collecting their own.] [Posted in FML issue 0486]