An exhibition of amazing craftsmanship and true artistry is on until December at the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace. The main attraction is the twelve Litany of Loreto embroidered pieces made in the early 20th century. Sadly the RSN website contains few images, but these here may tempt you to get to the exhibition.
The panels are in muted colours, and show incredible skill with the needle. Shading is done purely by cross hatching using slightly darker colours.
This close up shows just how subtle the embroidery is, with slight shading on the upper eyelid, and just the hint of tears.
And this shows a larger section of that panel where the hair really does look as if the slight wave has been painted rather than stitched. Note too the wonderful expression on the child. It is quite astonishing that this has been achieved by needle and thread alone.
And finally an even larger section showing where the detailed sections above came from.