Miniatures: The Fairy Castle

What about this amazing miniature doll house?!
The silent film star Colleen Moore created this intricate fairy castle by hiring Hollywood set designers, as well as other craftsmen and artisans from around the world, to make miniature sets and furniture for its rooms. Highlights include a bear skin rug made from a taxidermied mouse, a painting by Walt Disney, and the world's tiniest Bible. It took seven years to make and was completed in 1935. The Fairy Castle is part of the collection of The Museum of Science + Industry in Chicago.

Here's time-lapse of its installation with information about the nine-month conservation it underwent.

The Cabinet Room - Studiolo - early studio.

Lucas Cranach the Elder paints Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg as Saint Jerome (with friends) in his study, 1526. Public domain. Via Wikimedia.

Oh, glorious room. The antler chandelier with cherub (lüsterweibchen). The Cardinal cochineal red robes. The (symbolic) menagerie of animals: lion, pheasants with chicks, deer, beaver, quails, a red squirrel, an African grey parrot, and hare. Pears (apples?) and acorns. Maybe it's my post-Thanksgiving stupor, but the painting's rich texture and warm color palette seem to speak to a love of our earth that resonates with yesterday's celebration of thanks through food.

Happy to be Thanksgiving!