Wikipedia:Picture peer review/Quartermaster Dick Libby, USN, an Old Salt

Quartermaster Dick Libby, USN (1834)

Quartermaster Dick Libby, USN: "Twenty years in the Navy. Never drunk on duty - never sober on liberty." Portrait painted c.1834

I love this painting. Dick Libby would have made a fine Rembrandt common man model. The worn face, the rumpled uniform -- this artist knew his stuff. Compare to Image:Der Mann mit dem Goldhelm.jpg.

Image is from the Naval Historical Center. [1] links to full picture data, including the quote in the caption. WP Image links to Uniforms of the United States Navy and Old salt.

Nominated by: Pete Tillman (talk) 04:00, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

Size doesn't meet FP criteria and I suspect some people will have problems with the text on painting, although that's easily fixed. My other concern would be encyclopedic value. I don't know how well it really illustrates Old salt. I think with a bigger scan and better article placement this could gather some support though. Tomdobb (talk) 17:23, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your comment -- I didn't realize there was a 1000px minimum, but "Exceptions to this rule may be made for historical or otherwise unique images, if no higher resolution could be acquired." Wikipedia:Featured picture criteria. The only real way to get a better photo would be to rephotograph the original painting(which is, or was, at the United States Naval Academy), not very practical since I live in Arizona.

Perhaps this image could also illustrate a historical naval uniform article, but no such article seems to exist. Hmm.... Thanks again, Pete Tillman (talk) 18:44, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Image now linked to Uniforms of the United States Navy, which has some historical info. Cheers, Pete Tillman (talk) 20:01, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The historical policy is more for if the original itself is historical on its own right but fails the technical requirements. Here is a painting 2.5 feet tall; the problem is not in the historical origninal but in the modern digital reprodiction. Thegreenj 00:48, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

-- and that's an insoluble problem, without rephotographing the painting. Oh, well. Something to do on my next trip to Annapolis (or yours??).

Too bad, as it's an exceptionally fine painting. Better reproduction than the Rembrandt (above) too <GG>.Thanks for your comment, Pete Tillman (talk) 18:26, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, by the way, do you know about Wikimedia Commons? If you upload free media there, rather than to Wikipedia, it can then be accessed from foreign language Wikipedias and other Wikimedia projects. Thegreenj 00:52, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Seconder