Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Elizabeth I of England - Darnley Portrait

 
Original - The "Darnley Portrait" of Elizabeth I of England, oil on panel, 113 x 78.7 cm, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 2082). Probably painted from life, this portrait is the source of the face pattern called "The Mask of Youth" which would be used for authorized portraits of Elizabeth for decades to come.
 
Already featured.
 
Rescanned, v.2 - NOT THIS ONE
 
Cleaned up, v. 3
 
Version 4 Scanner streaks removed. Streaks in previous versions ran vertically down the image slightly to the right of the subject's face and were most visible against the black background and on the green feather of the fan. No longer a problem.
Reason
This is a new high-res scan of "one of the most important portraits of the queen" (Cooper, A Guide to Tudor & Jacobean Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 2008, p. 34). It is one of the few portraits which is believed to have been painted from life. As the source of the face pattern (called by art historians "The Mask of Youth") for portraits painted by many other hands throughout the reign, it is the origin of the iconic image of Elizabeth I. It is widely used throughout English Wikipedia and would become the logical lead image for the article Elizabeth I of England which has had many changes of lead images over the last few months. (Note: Identical images exist in English Wikipedia and in Commons, replacing two different poor quality images which had the same name before. This scan is possible under the new guidelines for photographs of public domain art.)
Articles this image appears in
Protestant Reformation, List of English monarchs, Elizabethan Religious Settlement, 1550-1600 in fashion, Portal:Biography/Selected anniversaries/September 7, Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador, On Monsieur’s Departure, Portal:Environment/Selected quote, Portal:Environment/Selected quote/11, Portal:Anglicanism/Selected biography/4, List of Irish monarchs, Portal:Feminism/Selected biography, Portal:Feminism/Selected biography/32, Talk:Elizabeth I of England, English Reformation, List of descendants of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
Creator
PKM
Support version 4 DurovaCharge! 22:01, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The line to the right of her head is on the painting. You might be right about the blurrier one parallel to it, further to the right. qp10qp (talk) 19:21, 30 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Reply. Correct on the skinny line to the right of her head (separation in the panel, I think?) Let me see if the blurry line is in the original.
I love the current featured picture, but it's not nearly as significant in the greater scheme of things, and it's nowhere near as useful in encyclopedic contexts. Surely we can have two featured pictures of the same historical person? - PKM (talk) 19:43, 30 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Oh it's very high EV and high resolution. I'd love to be persuaded into this. The streak on the dark background would be easy to correct, but not the one on her dress. Scanner streaks that cross pattern boundaries are a miserable thing to work on. Any change of getting a cleaner scan? DurovaCharge! 23:16, 30 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Of course! Rescanned and uploaded as v.2 (right). There's a slight blurry streak on the left that is in the source. - PKM (talk) 23:56, 30 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hm, still needs a little work. I have prior commitments or I'd give it a go. DurovaCharge! 01:23, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I am trying to avoid overworking the image; flaws in the original painting are part of the historical record. What changes would you like to see? - PKM (talk) 01:52, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The scanner lines are less prominent, but they're still there. Shoemaker's Holiday has written a guide to scanning art that's available somewhere at Commons (I just don't remember precisely where at this moment). Suggest you contact him for advice. He's a master at this. Best, DurovaCharge! 03:25, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
commons:Help:Scanning. For Scanner-line problems, the easiest way is to simply rotate the image 90 or 180 degrees, and rescan. Scanner lines happen at the same place - they're a scanner artefact. But, if you scan at high-enough resolution, then it's trivial to stitch the two versions together, editing out the scanner lines. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 03:47, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(outdent) Thanks for the tips; I see a serious flaw on v.2 which I think I have fixed on v.3. The pinkish streak on the left in the dress is another flaw in the painting. If there are scanner artifacts still there I simply cannot see them. - PKM (talk) 05:03, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's most noticeable as two vertical lines running up the green plume on her fan, and directly above there running next to her face. It's good enough now that it wouldn't be utter torture to try repairing; if you've got Skype (or are willing to download it) then e-mail me for my Skype ID; I'd like to do the repair from an uncompressed .tif file if you'll accept the help. DurovaCharge! 09:29, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Email sent with options; I have a color-corrected .tif ready to go. - PKM (talk) 18:33, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the clean-up, Durova! Looks great. - PKM (talk) 22:32, 31 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You're welcome. :) DurovaCharge! 05:52, 1 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted Image:Darnley stage 3.jpg --jjron (talk) 13:42, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! I have copied the description from the original file to the new one.
MichaelMaggs, as an admin in Commons can you move Image:Darnley stage 3.jpg to a new but meaningful name like "Elizabeth I Darnley Portrait c 1575.jpg"? (I'll drop a note in your talk page as well.) - PKM (talk) 22:09, 8 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]