Gaint Women are my Flotation Device
This past week I saw two animated movies. Waltz with Bashir (2008) and Tales of the Black Freighter (2009), which is a sub-plot from the Watchmen graphic novel that was not incorporated into the movie.
Somehow in both movies there appears a giant woman, floating in the sea, upon which our protagonists can lay in rescue.
From Bashir:
From Black Freighter:
The allegory of giant floating woman as saviour doesn't seem to be overly prevalent (read I didn't find any thing googling for "giant floating woman") and I can't quite recall any references. Of course there is always the Madonna as mother and Queen of Heaven. But she is not usually giant. But then I remembered back to a trip I took some years ago to Sansepolcro, a little Italian town, for the sole purpose of seeing a painting by Piero della Francesca: Madonna della Misericordia (1462). The center of the polyptych is dominated by the Virgin Mary:
At first I was struck by such an odd representation of the Virgin, she is literally a giant above the masses. But as wiki explains:
Perhaps the giant female protector is making a comeback after a 500 year hiatus?
Somehow in both movies there appears a giant woman, floating in the sea, upon which our protagonists can lay in rescue.
From Bashir:
From Black Freighter:
The allegory of giant floating woman as saviour doesn't seem to be overly prevalent (read I didn't find any thing googling for "giant floating woman") and I can't quite recall any references. Of course there is always the Madonna as mother and Queen of Heaven. But she is not usually giant. But then I remembered back to a trip I took some years ago to Sansepolcro, a little Italian town, for the sole purpose of seeing a painting by Piero della Francesca: Madonna della Misericordia (1462). The center of the polyptych is dominated by the Virgin Mary:
At first I was struck by such an odd representation of the Virgin, she is literally a giant above the masses. But as wiki explains:
Notably, the Madonna is still portrayed larger in size than the human figures, as tradition in the medieval painting. However, the plastic rendering of the figure, inspired by Masaccio, and the perspective study, inspired by Brunelleschi, are plainly Renaissance.
Perhaps the giant female protector is making a comeback after a 500 year hiatus?
1 comment:
That is an interesting detail that you picked up. I will keep a look out for giant floating women from now on. When I think floating women, I think Ophelia.
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