They are cleaning out a storage room at work, so there was a table of art books in the atrium this morning. Yay, Free Books! I found 14 books on renaissance and art of the middle ages, covering most of europe, and filled with gorgeous PORTRAITS!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's like Christmas!!!! I haven't had a chance to look closely at any of them, but a sampling shows that I have scored a great treasure!
And the best part is... apparently there are a BUNCH of boxes they haven't sorted through yet, and I can have anything I want out of them! I am really hoping that whoever these belonged to had a copy of the Queen's Wardrobe, LOL. It's a big mystery as to who put them there, as they have been tucked away for years and years. Thank goodness for a curious work-study student!!!!
I'll compile a list of what I found later (it's crunch time here, and I need to get back to unboxing new computers). I can't wait to dig into what I have, and can't wait to see what's still in those other boxes! (apparently, what was on the free table wasn't even HALF of what's still up in the storage room!!!!!)
;D ;D ;D :D ;D :D ;D :D
that is awesome
cant wait to see what you got.
Oh such a wonderful day for you.
SCORE!!!! Lucky you!
I am green with envy!
Me too! What a treat! :)
Wow... Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas all rolled into one! How exciting!!!
Pant pant! Hope you have a good scanner so we can all kibitz on the treasure in days to come. Tee-hee!
Huzzah! Fantastic!!!
Lucky you. Also green with envy.
Still haven't gotten more boxes out of storage, and my curiosity is killing me!
Here are a few pics of interesting things I've found so far (I'll have to post dates later, books are at home). Some of these are allegorical, but still pretty!
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/TG6xajzw1iI/AAAAAAAAARQ/UO3ua6OBQXY/s640/IMG_5149.jpg)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/TG6xbDcwtXI/AAAAAAAAARU/Uy_TbL59rZs/s640/IMG_5157.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/TG6xbzS0VmI/AAAAAAAAARY/ztC8RZXdTYQ/s720/IMG_5144.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/TG6xckRdSvI/AAAAAAAAARc/8z3dEXfEK5M/s640/IMG_5082.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/TG6xdRDQhII/AAAAAAAAARg/x_llJ16Wlu8/s640/IMG_5091.jpg)
(I think we can tell where Danielle's dress in Ever After came from...)
There are a bunch of really interesting black and white reproductions as well, and a ton of information to process!
Lady R, you are a lucky, lucky woman!
Keep posting as you find time!!
Quote from: Lady Rosalind on August 20, 2010, 11:55:06 AM
Still haven't gotten more boxes out of storage, and my curiosity is killing me!
Here are a few pics of interesting things I've found so far (I'll have to post dates later, books are at home). Some of these are allegorical, but still pretty!
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/TG6xbzS0VmI/AAAAAAAAARY/ztC8RZXdTYQ/s720/IMG_5144.jpg)
There are a bunch of really interesting black and white reproductions as well, and a ton of information to process!
This one with the pearls really caught me eye.
I think she's got golden Hebraic letters on her neckline. I wonder what it say. Probably a Biblical quote. It's Mary Magdalene, judging from the jar she's holding, and her reddish, loose hair.
I like the gown shown in your second photo down. The sleeves make me curious with the little tassles that tie up the over sleeve. Lovely. :) Does anyone know where that style of headwrap originates from? I'd look ghastly in that, unless it was much bigger, but it's a nicely different look.
Quote from: Anna Iram on August 20, 2010, 01:35:25 PM
I like the gown shown in your second photo down. The sleeves make me curious with the little tassles that tie up the over sleeve. Lovely. :) Does anyone know where that style of headwrap originates from? I'd look ghastly in that, unless it was much bigger, but it's a nicely different look.
It's a Florentine dress, by a painter who worked around the same time as Raphael. The painter, Andrea del Sarto, has actually depicted his wife Lucrezia. I think it's a beautiful portrait. Turban like head scarfs weren't unheard of per se, but it being stripy is a curious detail. It's usually considered a Hebraic hallmark. But the details with the tied sleeve, the chemise poking out at the shoulders, and the contrasting trim on bodice (and probably skirt) is typical Florentine.
You can see a bigger version of the portrait here:
http://irea.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/landrea-del-sarto-ucrezia.jpg
It looks a bit like she might be pregnant, also. Or is that just the way that type of skirt fit?
Quote from: Rani Zemirah on August 20, 2010, 04:18:40 PM
It looks a bit like she might be pregnant, also. Or is that just the way that type of skirt fit?
Yeah, most ladies wearing that style have a rounded belly. Only one are believed to be pregnant (Raphael's "Donna gravida"), but you never know... Side lacing was common in dresses, and the waistline high, so you could wear your dresses well into the pregnancy. Here's more dresses in the same style:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze1/raphael1506.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze1/raphael1506b.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze1/raphael1507.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze2/bacchiacca1520s.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze1/bugiardini1520s.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze1/bugiardini1525nga.jpg
Huh... it looks to me like all but two were pregnant! LOL Thank you for the links... those were beautiful!
...and more turban style headwraps! I'd never really noticed it was so common before now.
I never tire of looking at portraits of the period. Thanks. :)
Wow, I was just kidding about that scanner, but what a treat! :-) Thank you for sharing and we'll humbly hope for more!
More pics (I took these with my camera, so please ignore any weirdness :) ) Again, just random interesting paintings.
This is from an altarpiece, and is just really intriguing.
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THAnc217uxI/AAAAAAAAAR4/wgU5Tcuq5QM/s640/IMG_5143.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THAndbU-Z7I/AAAAAAAAAR8/sUEbG4gmNoM/s800/temptations.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THAnd6-uMEI/AAAAAAAAASA/ohJfPB0nrSY/s640/IMG_5116.jpg)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THAneoKgLpI/AAAAAAAAASE/0jg0Lumyu6k/s640/IMG_5148.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THAnfAeJZLI/AAAAAAAAASI/4IxHygyYjmQ/s640/IMG_5145.jpg)
I love the woman's bodice and the man's foresleeves!
Quote from: Lady Rosalind on August 21, 2010, 02:27:57 PM
This is from an altarpiece, and is just really intriguing.
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THAnc217uxI/AAAAAAAAAR4/wgU5Tcuq5QM/s640/IMG_5143.jpg)
Ooooh, this bodice is fascinating!!! I've never seen anything like that before! The neckline almost reminds me of a cardigan, for some reason, and I just adore those sleeves!!!
I'm very grateful for the peasant woman picture - I'm not yet in the "able to sew noble garb" skill set, so I'm working my way up with peasant/low middle class outfits. (Also, those currently work better for toddler-chasing at faire.) This one is a treat!
More fun stuff! (killing time while waiting for lab images to propagate)
Here are the fancy-pants - very weird tights!
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THhV7zET4AI/AAAAAAAAASg/dkMNQg54ieQ/s640/crazypants.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THhV8cucumI/AAAAAAAAASk/efY-qCKECSE/s640/IMG_5092.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THhV85924JI/AAAAAAAAASo/1QnIee3S7lI/s640/IMG_5097.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THhV9e5ILdI/AAAAAAAAASs/UZzXaYfSMPw/s640/IMG_5108.jpg)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_z9cN4ycfueI/THhV-CGcKNI/AAAAAAAAASw/fIto1b-UDcE/s640/IMG_5110-detail.jpg)
More later!
I am loving the pics, but have to say...that is a seriously large lotta forehead on that baby in pic #4 there!
Yeah... and anyone else notice the heavily pregnant Mary Magdalene in pic #2?!?
Quote from: Rani Zemirah on August 27, 2010, 09:51:27 PM
Yeah... and anyone else notice the heavily pregnant Mary Magdalene in pic #2?!?
Yep I noticed.
I think it's just the style of dress that makes it look like that. If you look at the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, you can see the same thing. It's just fabric bunched up.
I dunno... to me she looks pregnant above the bunched fabric, also, and the way she's holding her hands around her abdomen reminds me very much of a woman cradling her unborn child... but then, I don't really know anything about any of these artists, either. I do know there were some schools of thought that hinted at her being pregnant at the time of the crucifixion, and it's possible there were some artists who portrayed her that way, until the Catholic church put a stop to it. I guess without artist documentation it would be impossible to know for sure, though...
Quote from: Lady Rosalind on August 28, 2010, 12:15:10 PM
I think it's just the style of dress that makes it look like that. If you look at the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, you can see the same thing. It's just fabric bunched up.
I agree with you there. Many DO look pregnant, but it's probably a combination of
1. the silhouette pre-stays / pre-stiffened bodices, which sported a high bust, a narrow waist and a rounded belly, and
2. men being used to see women with a round belly cause the "natural" course of event was that women became pregnant once married and often remained so into menopause/death (OK, a bit exaggerated, but you get my point). That's how women looked in public, so male artists would depict woman that way.
But note that the same applies for the virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, and also unmarried women. They definitely would not be depicted as pregnant, it would not be
decorum. Similar silhouettes/bellies are found in naked Venuses, Eves and graces, which are also unlikely to be depicted as pregnant. Look at these:
http://www.abm-enterprises.net/artgall2/botticelli_threegraces.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Niklaus_Manuel_Deutsch_002.jpg
http://www.lib-art.com/imgpainting/9/5/12359-darmstadt-madonna-hans-the-younger-holbein.jpg
I totally agree that they look pregnant, to my modern eye. But I've come to accept that portraits and paintings rarely DO depict pregnant woman, at least not consciously. It's also interesting to see the change in depictions of naked women from when the bodices of the dresses narrowed and/or corsets came into use. The swollen bellies seems to disappear or at least be little prominent. This is of course not due to human evolution, but to how these male painters (and their clients) were used to see women in public.
I don't think they are made to look pregnant,
I think its evidence of the depiction of beautiful women that were not "skinny" by today's standards.
After all until the last couple of hundred years if you were nice and plump it meant you were well off and could afford servants and cooks and to not do manual labor.
Thank you for all the pictures.
Please keep posting