Restorers brush off Victorian ‘lip fillers’ given to 17th-century aristocrat
Her filled lips pout towards the viewer, her face framed by wavy brown hair extensions. It could be a description of one of Kylie Jenner’s Instagram posts, but the touched-up beauty in question is Diana Cecil, Countess of Oxford.
Experts at English Heritage have discovered that a portrait of the 17th-century aristocrat had been altered by restorers to enhance certain features, suggesting that our modern beauty standards might not be so modern after all.
The great-granddaughter of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, one of Elizabeth I’s closest advisers, Diana was considered one of the great belles of her age. Yet it seems a later artist had other ideas.
A restorer, probably in the 19th century, worked on the painting after it was damaged when being rolled
