A Stitch in Time

Following the Stuart Restoration, King Charles II tries to craft a public image that reinforces him as the rightful head of the nation while avoiding the extravagant displays that made his father unpopular.

Dutch painter Jan van Eyck's enigmatic Arnolfini portrait offers rich material for debating its meaning, including whether the female subject's voluminous gown indicates she was pregnant; Amber explores how wool was dyed in the 1400s.

At Broughton Castle, Amber examines a full-size portrait of an 18th-century hedge cutter, a rare example of a worker being immortalized on canvas.

Amber studies Dido Belle, the 18th-century daughter of an enslaved African woman brought up at Kenwood House in London.

Amber is allowed to closely examine the heraldic surcoat of the Black Prince, eldest son of English King Edward III.

Amber studies a 1783 portrait of French Queen Marie Antoinette in a loose-fitting garment and tries to understand the woman behind the legend.