 |
Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1983
Grace Hartigan (born 1922)
Oil on canvas, 78 1/2 x 72 inches
Gift of Fay and Alfred Chandler, 1995
DAM 1995-13
Eleanor of Aquitaine comes from a series of paintings Hartigan entitled Great Queens and Empresses. Hartigan’s vision of Eleanor (1122-1204), Queen of France and later Queen of England, was inspired by a book of historical costumes and paper dolls. Two figures are presented, perhaps in reference to her public and private lives. The private Eleanor clutches a book, while the queen—faceless, like a paper doll’s costume—wears jewels and a crown and holds a Bible. |
