The only plus side was that it did look exactly like her, which is hard to say for most of the other portraits aside from Angelique's.
I was thinking exactly the same thing, Cassandra, er Bad_Dream. Interestingly enough, although it is pretty bad artistically, the likeness is actually good. It just goes to show how a good likeness does not necessarily make good art and vice versa. The Josette portrait may be more artistic, but it doesn't look much like its subject.
The best portrait of all is that of PT Angelique; it is both a good likeness and fairly accomplished technically.
Actually I have always liked the old portrait of Barnabas, too, although the eyes aren't quite right.
Regarding the aged Quentin portrait, did anyone here notice that it looks eerily similar to Dorian's portrait in the final scene of the movie "Picture of Dorian Gray"? I could almost swear that it is by the same artist.
-Happy[blackbat] (who feels that being a published author like Mark would be nice indeed!)