A work
of Art, be it ever so humble, is long lived; we never tire of it
(...). All
works of Art have
the property of becoming venerable amidst decay: and reason good, for
from the first there was a soul in them, the thought of man, which
will be visible in them so long as the body exists in which they were
implanted.
W.
Morris – Art
and Socialism,
1884
 |
| Naumburg Master - Uta von Naumburg |
One
cannot but agree with William Morris’ opinion about the
fascination, the soul, which dwells within a work of art. A power
that strikes even more when it comes out from a cold and hard stone
that suddenly acquires known or knowable features and that, be it
only for a moment, makes us stop and stare.
I
don’t know how the statue of the margrave Uta von Ballenstedt,
better known as Uta von Naumburg, actually looks like, but the
charming power of her soul can already be perceived
through the numerous images of her that can often be seen.
 |
| Walt Disney's Grimhilde |
This
figure, in fact, has become worldly famous after Walt Disney’s Snow
White (1937), who took inspiration from Uta to give life to Queen
Grimhilde, Snow White’s evil stepmother.
If
you want to see the statue, you should visit the cathedral of
Naumburg, in the German
Land
of
Saxony-Anhalt. The “magic” is owed to the unknown Naumburg
Master, who decorated the choir screen, where the twelve statues of
the founders of the cathedral can be found.
Living
between 1000 and 1046, Uta is represented among the statues of the
first customers of the original Romanesque cathedral*; at her side is
the margrave Ekkehard von Meissen, who became her husband in 1026.
Their marriage was with high probabilities based on political
reasons, nevertheless the couple didn’t give birth to any
successor.
 |
| Naumburg Master - Uta and Ekkehard |
Concealing
her is precisely what draws the viewer’s attention on the few but
elegantly defined details. The fine features of her face, the natural
manner in which she sustains her cloak, preventing it to fall down,
her melancholic look directed towards an undefined space and time
dimension. Few elements that nevertheless succeed in transmitting the
nobility of the figure.
A
figure that in every epoch inspired and captured passionate viewers.
Disney was in fact not the only one who felt Uta’s peculiar charm;
Umberto Eco himself is said to have claimed that, should he have to
date one of the most famous medieval female figures, he would without
a doubt choose her.
The
exploitation of this image reached an extreme peak during the Nazi
period, when Uta became the icon of Aryan beauty and the prototype of
“classic art”, as opposed to the so called “degenerate art”.
The Naumburg Master wouldn’t have thought to go as far as that.
 |
| Giotto di Bondone - The Meeting at the Golden Gate (1303 - 1305) |
To
conclude, I would like to call your attention to another image, a
figure from a fresco which dates back to 1303 – 1305, some decades
after the creation of Uta’s statue. The scene is taken from one of
Giotto’s masterpieces, namely the decoration of the ScrovegniChapel, in Padua. It represents one of the episodes from the life of
the Virgin Mary, and in particular Joachim
meets Anna at the Golden Gate.
 |
| Giotto di Bondone - The Meeting at the Golden Gate (particular) |
The
figure in the black cloak distracts the viewer’s attention from one
of the earliest kisses of the history of art, does
she remind us of
someone?
* Which had later been rebuilt, around 1250, in a more Gothic style, therefore representing an important proof of the transition between these two architectonic styles.
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