Longing Sealed with a Feather

Original size: 98/49cm
​A woman is reading a letter written with a feather pen. Butterflies float about her, and with them, words, longing, thoughts and questions. This is one of the collages that I took apart again and again. I spent many hours with it on the worktable like a puzzle awaiting assembly. Surprise and a feeling of magic came over me when I finally realized the symbolism of all the figures.
The woman in blue is based on a painting of Johannes Vermeer. Most of Vermeer’s paintings depict a figure in a house (always the same house) by a window. He reveals the figure in a private moment.  “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” (1663), also shows a private moment.
In the painting the woman in blue stands alone in a room by a window. I chose to place her in a liminal place, neither inside nor the outside, in a place between her room or chamber and the patio.

This extravagant room is based on the chamber of the Marquis Isabella d’Este (1474-1539), ruler of Mantua, most famous woman of her generation, also known as “The First Lady of the World”. She was known to be a prolific and expressive letter writer, a patron of music, architecture and the arts, and a fashionista – envied and copied by woman all over Italy. On the ceiling of her chamber, her name and motto, “Not Hope Nor Fear”, are engraved. Her chamber contained so many rare books and valued artworks that it was nicknamed “Il Paradiso”. The letter is based on a photograph of Isabella d’Este’s chamber contained in one of her letters.
The collage bridges a woman's domicile in her home and her ability to leave the home and take part in the world at large. The notion of relationships and partnership is also present. The woman and the man send words/letters back and forth between them.  Words written with a feather.
At some point, while the collage was in process, as it was taken apart, cut and glued, again and again, the swans were added. I knew nothing about Isabella d’Este at the time. As I was researching her so that I could write a few words about the collage, I discovered that she once sent a pair of swans to her brother-in-law, Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Karen Essex wrote a historical novel called “Leonardo’s Swans” about the event.
To Isabella’s dismay, Ludovico Sforza married her younger sister Beatrice, passing over Isabella, the elder sister, who shared his same interests. (Leonardo Da Vinci, who was the court painter, architect and designer in service of the Duke of Milan at the time, organized the wedding ceremony). When she was in Milan to celebrate the wedding, Isabella was exposed to a painting of Leonardo’s that depicted Cecilia Gallerani, Ludovico Sforza’s lover – “the Lady with an Ermine”. Isabella, who was an art lover, and had been painted by many famous artists, wanted Leonardo to paint a portrait of her that would celebrate her beauty as well. She turned to Ludovico Sforza, and when he agreed to ask Leonardo on her behalf, she sent him a pair of swans in thanks, and as a nod to Leonardo’s painting “Leda and the Swan”, which describes a mythological story, in which Jupiter disguises himself as a swan and seduces/rapes Leda.
Isabella fell in love with Ludovico Sforza and the power that he accumulated as Duke of Milan. The mutual attraction was replaced by a deep respect and friendship. Through their long chain of letters, they shared, amongst other things, their mutual love of art.
Today, it is believed that Leonardo’s painting, “La Joconde”, better known by the name “Mona Lisa”, is a portrait of Isabella D’Este against the backdrop of the landscapes of Mantua, which Leonardo, fascinated by aviation, painted as if from above.
The politics of the Italian nobles were rife with intrigue and infidelity. Marriages were a tool to consolidate power and prevent wars amongst families. Extramarital lovers were commonplace. Lucretia Borghese, Isabella D’Este’s sister in law, became the lover of Francesco II Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua (Isabella’s husband), until his death from syphilis.
(You can read about the various characters of the period in Karen Essex’s historical novel “Leonardo’s Swans”, in which she mixes historical fact and imagination to tell the story of the Northern Italian courts in the period that Leonardo Da Vinci was painting).

Feather: When a feather crosses your path, it represents a greeting from the Great Spirit, as well as freedom, inspiration, and the journey of the soul and spirit. In various cultures there is a place of honor for feathers that blow in on the wind and the mystic significance they bring with them. The feathers themselves are used as decoration, adornment and symbolize connection to the divine. Reminiscent of wings, they connect us to ideas of protection, love and rebirth. The connection to birds reminds us of spiritual journeys and freedom. To find a feather is a message of love from the universe sent across time and space.

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Swan: Waterfowl symbolize emotion. The swan is connected to the symbolism of the feather, but specifically it refers to romance, love and partnership. Swans mate for life. When they face one another, their necks form the shape of a heart. They seem to effortlessly glide on water. Swans symbolize ease, romance and protection of the family in romantic relationships.
Butterfly: In ancient Greece, the butterfly represented the soul and immortality. Butterflies are connected to the ideas of shape shifting, rebirth, ease, happiness, emotional and spiritual growth. As butterflies are drawn towards light, they also symbolize the law of attraction and our ability to manifest things that we desire in our lives.  The butterfly and the clock represent time and its passing.