Agnes Sorel - The Original Mistress

Agnès Sorel 

b. ~1421

Anges the first officially recognized royal mistress, by King Charles VII of France

Charles was fascinated by her uncommon beauty, her sky-blue eyes, golden hair, and magnificent décolletage emphasized by her low-cut diaphanous gowns that scandalized stricter moralists such as the Flemish poet George Chastelain  who lived up to his name by complaining that when he first met Agnes at the French court he could see her nipples!

When Charles met Agnes, she was the mistress of Etienne Chevalier, the king's  secretary. Chevalier commissioned Jean Fouquet's portrait of Agnes, which was his masterpiece and one of the more notable paintings of the sixteenth century. This exceptionally sophisticated painting portrayed Agnes as the Blessed Virgin with her left breast bared, for a diptych at Melun. Fouquet also became one of Agnes's lovers along with the royal chamberlain, Pierre de Breze. After Agnes became Charles' official mistress, she dropped Chevalier andFouquet but kept her affair going  with de Breze who, although he was in love with Agnes, was politically loyal to Charles.   

My Intentions

- Too visually communicate the power of Agnes 

Gala Dali

Gala Dali (b. 1894) Wife and Muse of Salvador Dali 

A bit about Gala

Ian Gibson in his book The Shameful Life of  Salvador Dali describes Gala's relationship with Dali as follows - 

 'For Dali, the highly sexed, Russian-born Gala brought some form of physical release and the promise of intelligent companionship; for her, the artist seems to have been a career and a fortune waiting to be made, as well as a husband who would tolerate all the lovers she craved........'

Read the first chapter of the book here 

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/22/reviews/981122.22peppiat.htm

At the time of their meeting Gala was 35 and Dali 25 - They would spend the rest of their together with Gala becoming the subject of many of Dali's paintings, in the below exampleGala's exposed breast signifying...bread!?! 

This being the image I plan to re-create and alter in an attempt to highlight just how Gala and Dali complimented each other

Have a look at the below photos of Gala and Dali which show just how into each other these two really were 

Elizabeth Siddal as Ophelia

Ophelia by John Everett Millais

Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862)

Model and Muse of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood art movement 

See this link for details of the work from this period

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/p/preraphaelite.html

The Story

In brief - Modelling for the painting Ophelia required Elizabeth to lie in a bath for several hours. Wearing an antique dress John bought for $250 by todays money. The bath was heated using oil lamps however these went out, the artist kept on working and Elizabeth said nothing while lying in the cold water. It is suggested that this event contributed to her life long health issues, which in turn lead to her laudanum  addiction and finally overdose.

The Plan

To re-create the above scene as closely as resources will allow and document the process through film and photography. The results to be posted on this blog. 

(Medical advise has been sort)

For further information on Elizabeth

Source: http://www.lizziesiddal.com/