Medieval Woman

Medieval Woman by Della Marinis

Inspiration

by Della Marinis*

I’d made a point to stop at the Cluny Museum in Paris to see The Lady & the Unicorn Tapestries which I’d been fascinated by for some time. I found them in a special circular room, dimly but dramatically lit to show off their warm hues and intricacy of design. There was something that felt especially young about them, in spite of how weathered the textile was in places, and I attributed this to their  secular theme. I was so accustomed to seeing religion take center stage in art of this period.

But then I saw it all differently. Even the museum’s other treasures seemed to push ecclesiastical boundaries, or maybe I just hadn’t looked that closely before. Behind the staid subjects of the stained glass, wood carvings and illuminated manuscripts, I could glimpse the real magic and madness of the times, and it almost came to life.

Then I came to a wooden bust of a woman, fair-haired and with heavy lidded eyes and a wry expression. There seemed to be a light filtering through that recalled a moment – a passing mood or spirit – in someone’s life. One face of the past. Unfortunately I didn’t write down the name of the statue, if there was one, or the date or place it was made.

I don’t know enough about the period to decide if this was a woman of importance or not, either by her dress or just the fact that someone bothered to carve her likeness in the first place. But I wanted to paint her as I saw her, in a more fae-inspired setting, eyes more open and seeing.

I’m moved by looking into the face of the past and try to imagine how it would be if it could look back. 
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*Della Marinis is my fabulous, Berlin dwelling cousin. She writes young adult fiction, paints, has two tremendous kids and an awesome font crafting husband. Della's fluent in English, Dutch and German and is twelve kinds of wise and funny to boot. Check out more of her Tell Me a Story posts here, here and here.