SS Ellan Vannin (1854) SS Ellan Vannin (1854) SS (RMS) "Ellan Vannin" was an iron-built packet steamer which was operated out of Castletown, Isle of Man for the Castletown Steam Navigation Company (also referred to as the Castletown Steam Packet Company) to Liverpool and Whitehaven. Her name, Ellan Vannin, came from the Gaelic term by which the Isle of Man is known. "Ellan Vannin" was built by John Laird and Co. Ltd, Wallasey Pool, Birkenhead and was launched by Mrs. H. Houldsworth at 13:00hrs on Saturday 24 June 1854. Length 170'; beam 21' (exclusive of the paddle boxes) 39' overall. "Ellan Vannin" was powered
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