Friday, September 27, 2019

Art: Conformed Fairy Tales

Who would have thought to put Snow White, freshly recovered from her harrowing run through the woods and peering out to discover the dwarfs cottage, next to Diana in huntress mode (from Titian's "The Death of Actaeon")? What are your thoughts about this character when you discover Snow White's legs have become those of the goddess, as she is discovering the tragic end of a hunt? When you realize Diana's legs are stepping into a scene of what remains of a man-transformed-to-deer, did the inclusion of the one hiding behind the tree (on Snow's left) suddenly take on a darker tone?

The ideas both conflict and reflect on each other, with your brain encouraging you to try to find a link, since your eye sees the limbs lining up so well. Though Snow White as a hunter isn't quite as foreign an idea as it used to be (thanks to ABC's Once Upon A Time TV series), thinking about Diana and Snow White conforming to each other, creates a new way to look at the fairy tale of Snow White in particular. 

Such an image, once you realize what is happening and the sources of the two halves, is incredibly thought-provoking... (Are we at 1000 words yet?)

It's titled "Confórmi [the forms do not belong to anyone]" and specifically adds text to remind us of this definition: "Conform": be similar in form or type; agree.


And, of course, it makes us think of those fairy tales in new ways too...

We could probably muse on any one of these juxtapositions for a while but instead, we'll leave you with the images and whatever thoughts they generate for you, though we'd love you to share any flashes of inspiration and questions they may prompt in the comments!

The two pieces of art used are noted below each picture (in the original Italian text from the Tumblr) so you can identify each of them, in case your curiosity wishes you to wander a little further.

Enjoy your fairy tale art meditation today!
Giotto, Compianto sul Cristo Morto, Cappella degli Scrovegni, Padova, 1303-1035
VS
Walt Disney, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937
Sandro Botticelli, Annunciazione di Cestello, 1498-1499
VS
Walt Disney, Cinderella, 1950 
Walt Disney, Sleeping Beauty, 1959
VS
Giotto, Dormitio Virginis, 1312-1314
Giotto, Sermon to the Birds, Legend of St Francis, Basilica Papale di San Francesco, Italy, 1295-1299
VS
Walt Disney, Sleeping Beauty, 1959
Wolfgang Reitherman, The Sword in the Stone, 1963
VS
Eero Saarinen and Harry Bertoia, MIT Chapel, Cambridge | Massachusetts, USA, 1955
Gustave Doré, L’Enfer de Dante Alighieri, 1857
VS
Benjamin Lacombe, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, SOLEIL, 2003
Pirro Ligorio, Orco | Parco dei Mostri, Bomarzo, Italy, 1547
VS
Spreepark, Berlin, Germany, 1969 - 2001

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