SS Ellan Vannin (1854) the £14,000 reputed to have been available in 1856) a sum which the directors and shareholders present would not accept. Again the "Ellan Vannin" resumed revenue service whilst further attempts were made to find a buyer. The "Ellan Vannin's" final excursion took her across to the coast lines of County Louth and County Down via Carlingford Lough on 25 June, before she left the Isle of Man for good. Finally the Directors of the Castletown Steam Navigation Company (by now in serious financial difficulties) managed to find a buyer. "Ellan Vannin" was sold to Cunard & Wilson who were acting
Portrait of a Lady Known as Smeralda Brandini Portrait of a Lady Known as Smeralda Brandini The Portrait of Smeralda Brandini is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli of about 1475, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum no. CAI.100). The identification of the sitter is based on the old, but probably not original, inscription on the windowsill at the bottom of the picture "Smeralda di M.Bandinelli Moglie di VI... Bandinelli", who has been identified as the grandmother of the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. It is likely that the inscription was added at a later date, as the sculptor only took that