Monday, August 31, 2015

Could Da Vinci Have Been A Redhead?

It's often mentioned on-line that Leonardo da Vinci had red hair. He would be a great addition to the roll call, however evidence is very difficult to come by, and so far we've only found suggestions that he had hair of a brownish colour at best.

Interestingly though, the following web page suggests otherwise. It states that Leonardo had "long brown hair with a tinge of red". The page is interesting, but quite unorthodox as it suggests that Leonardo appeared in many more paintings than is generally believed.
http://www.kleio.org/en/history/famtree/sforza/323.html#758

The following YouTube video also expounds upon this theme;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpzs7U0e9AY

Whilst watching the video I noticed the following picture of a red-haired Jesus, apparently posed for by Leonardo.


I'm not too sure the image is actually Leonardo, but it's certainly another ginger Jesus to add to the collection. It would be interesting to know who painted it. The seemingly see-through orb reminded me of the famous Salvator Mundi often attributed to the hand of Leonardo da Vinci. Another Christus with vaguely red hair.

Red Hair in the Works of Evelyn De Morgan

This first painting was brought to my attention by Emanuela. It's by the female painter Evelyn De Morgan. She lived from 1855 to 1919 and her works were strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite movement. This painting is called The Love Potion. It depicts a yellow-clad witch complete with black cat familiar at her feet.



Whilst reading up on her I also found another few works by her that feature redheads. This first is called Aurora Triumphans and in it the central figure appears to have bright red hair. Aurora, the naked figure on the right is symbolic of day (or dawn), the dark shrouded figure on the left is symbolic of night.



This final painting is called The Worship of Mammon. It's quite a vivid illustration of the love of money, and shows a red-haired woman in purplish-pink drapery.


The Creation of Eve - Michelangelo

Another great red hair find courtesy of Emanuela today :)

This image is from the Creation of Eve by Michelangelo. It shows Adam with red hair, Eve with hair a little more blond in colour, and God with whitish-blond (possibly strawberry-blond ;p) hair.


Friday, August 7, 2015

Schneewittchen - Snow White

Emanuela also brought this German stamp to my attention which shows the wicked step-mother from Snow White with red hair.


I also came across a Japanese manga comic called Snow White with the Red Hair. According to the Wikipedia page an anime adaptation has recently been made. Apparently the plot involves her cutting off her red hair after a prince tries to force her to become his concubine because of it.

Some More (Very!) Red-Haired Pictures of Jesus

They both come courtesy of Emanuela :)

The first is from the Italian painter Fra Angelico and is called the Entombment of Christ.



And this second comes from the duomo of Orvieto and is by the same artist. It's possibly the most red-haired Jesus ever painted :)