fashion-history-germany

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1756 Anna Rosina de Gasc - Anna Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt

(Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg)

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ab. 1731 Antoine Pesne - Sophia Dorothea of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt

(Private collection)

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Carte de visite of two fine fellows rocking like it’s 1892 (per date on reverse), with their little dog who is vibrating into another timeline entirely

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MINIATURIST, German Gospels of Henry the Lion 1175-88 Manuscript (Cod. Guelf. 105 Noviss. 2), 340 x 255 mm Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel

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MASTER of the St. Bartholomew Altar St Agnes, St Bartholomew and St Cecilia [with detail] 1500-05 Wood, 129 x 161 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich

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Guda: a medieval self-portrait

Self-portrait of Guda, homilary, Frankfurt, second half of 12th century.

"The first category of figures we have considered shows the artist present in the work or in the process of creating it. To that category, we add a second type of portrait or self-portrait, in which the artist beseeches a favorable judgment for him-/herself after the work is completed.

Such is the case with the famous signed self-portrait of Guda, who represents herself within a collection of homilies in an initial D[ominus] for the octave of the Pentecost. The inscription reads: “guda peccatrix mulier scripsit q[ue] pinxit h[un]c librum (Guda, a sinful woman, wrote and painted this book).” Of the seven initials in the manuscript, this D is one of only two that contain figures. The other historiated initial comes at folio 196, the opening of the Assumptio Mariae, and contains a portrait of the virgin identified as Maria Virgo. The other five initials display dragons, interlaces, ribbons, or spirals.

Guda represented herself firmly grasping the initial with her left hand and raising her right in a gesture of salutation and expectation. I would argue that Guda carefully and consciously chose to be here. The initial opens the ninth homily of St. John chrysostom, the Sermo beati iohannes episcopi de david ubi goliad immanem hostem devicit (Sermon of the blessed Bishop John, on when David overcame the monstrous enemy Goliath), which explains the election of David. The homily also offers an occasion to meditate on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and its role in comforting the soul. In short, Guda has chosen the perfect spot in which to await the Second Coming of Christ, and this is why she represents herself as a sinner, whose activity as an artist should count in her favor at the end of time.

Guda’s self-representation in this way is analogous to the scene the scribe Swicher has staged (for the reader?) in the frontispiece of his copy of isidore of Seville’s Etymologies. Swicher’s author portrait is most original. In the upper register, Isidore of Seville is depicted in conversation with Bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, the patron of the Etymologies. In the lower register, Christ in propria persona presides at the scribe’s last judgment. Two angels busy themselves at a balance in which is weighed the very manuscript Swicher copied. The work of the scribe counts as a work of virtue: a third angel takes Swicher’s soul away through a thick cloud, whereas the devil turns around empty-handed. The Titulus attests to this: "O god, deign to have mercy on this wretched scribe. Do not consider the weight of my faults. Small though the good things may be, let them be exalted over the bad. Let night give way to light; let death itself give ground to life.”

Guda and Swicher make use of the same patterns of visibility and those patterns are not gender-specific. In both cases, the artists stage their humility and represent their belief that they might reach the heavenly kingdom through the artistic work they have done."

Mariaux Pierre Alain, "Women in the making: early medieval Signatures and artists’ portraits (9th–12th c.)", in: Reassessing the Roles of Women as 'makers' of Medieval Art and Architecture

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Nicola Perscheid und die bildnismäßige Dr. Paul Kühn Darmstadt: Alexander Koch, 1905.

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A German woman in a summer dress next to a Borzoi. Photo – Hermann Jursch, Nuremberg (1903)

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Müncher Stadtsmuseum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bavaria (Bayern)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

schwarzwald

Altenburg

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, (1, 2)

Westphalia (Westfalen)

Hesse

Spreewald

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CRANACH, Lucas the Elder Christ and the Adulteress (detail) 1532 Wood Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

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CRANACH, Lucas the Elder Altar wing (right, inner side) [Mary Magdalene] detail c. 1537 Wood Cathedral, Naumburg

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DÜRER, Albrecht The Great Courier c. 1495 Engraving, 100 x 113 mm Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden

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DÜRER, Albrecht Felicitas Tucher, née Rieter 1499 Oil on panel, 28 x 24 cm Schlossmuseum, Weimar

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Margarethe von Aich by Barthel Bruyn the Elder, c. 1540 

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Marlene Dietrich, c.1935

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Story of Willehalm von Orlens from Codex Palatinus germanicus, 1455-1479 Germany