Lesson plan
Miniver
by Jan van Eyck (1434); the woman wears a dress trimmed with miniver Miniver, an unspotted white fur edged with grey, derives originally from the winter coat of the red squirrel. In the Kingdom of England the term became established as a general term for white or almost white fur. In the original sense, miniver differs from ermine (stoat) fur in that it does not include the distinctive black tails of the stoat but is formed of distinctive grey edged panels cut from the complete fur and framing the white belly. From a red squirrel, which has a greyish-white winter coat with a white underside, miniver gros is the whole fur including the grey, and miniver pure retains only the white part. The heraldic fur vair translates the grey into blue and alternates back and belly.
Article summary
by Jan van Eyck (1434); the woman wears a dress trimmed with miniver Miniver, an unspotted white fur edged with grey, derives originally from the winter coat of the red squirrel. In the Kingdom of England the term became established as a general term for white or almost white fur. In the original sense, miniver differs from ermine (stoat) fur in that it does not include the distinctive black tails of the stoat but is formed of distinctive grey edged panels cut from the complete fur and framing the white belly. From a red squirrel, which has a greyish-white winter coat with a white underside, miniver gros is the whole fur including the grey, and miniver pure retains only the white part. The heraldic fur vair translates the grey into blue and alternates back and belly.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.