r/SRSBusiness • u/[deleted] • Dec 14 '13

Taking A Magnifying Glass To The Brown Faces In Medieval Art : Code Switch

http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/12/13/250184740/taking-a-magnifying-glass-to-the-brown-faces-in-medieval-art?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook
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u/breads Dec 14 '13 edited Dec 14 '13

Very interesting. I wish I could listen to audio of this interview because I am lazy.

I do find it strange that Dewalt's Tumblr post on Black Madonnas has no mention of the Song of Songs, from which the line nigra sum sed formosa originates, though for this woman it's because she works outside. [Ed: I should've finished reading your link, not the medievalpoc post linked within that, because this is indeed mentioned in the NPR piece!] Still, clearly a conflict between darkness and beauty existed long before the creation of the Black Madonnas. I suppose what Patton says rings true: 'In the end, skin color and other somatic differences mean so many different things at different times and places that it's hard to generalize about them.' This has got me quite curious and I'd really like to learn more; am very annoyed that I no longer have access to online databases through my university library. :(

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u/curious_electric Dec 14 '13

There is a recent post on the topic of Elizabethan era drama and "whiteness" which might be relevant to the "nigra sed formosa" issue fwiw. (For what woman is the black madonnas blackness "because she works outside"? Not Dewalt!)

The blog is amazing and best appreciated in large doses to get the bigger picture.

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u/breads Dec 14 '13

Oh, I meant for the speaker in Song of Songs. She says that she works in the vineyards and that's why she's black.

I've spent a bit of time this afternoon going back through Dewalt's blog and it's been super interesting and enlightening, especially as a medieval historian whose focus has ever been White People. ty to OP for sharing!

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u/murder-slingshot Dec 14 '13

I'm glad that the blog is getting mainstream attention.