He, They, Theirs, Ours
We find an ancient artifact. It informs us of someone; it tells a story. At times, we extrapolate, filling in missing pieces of the past. Some go on a treasure hunt and discover proof of what we thought happened. Other times, we discover something that 'changes our understanding of the past.'
All that is common knowledge. My blog entry here (re)creates a past that certainly existed, maybe with different faces.
Maybe you have seen a photo booth at a train station and even used one with a friend. Behind the curtain, though the public is very near, you dared to have fun, make faces, kiss, embrace, and carve a memory on photographic paper. That happened in the past too, using various supports.
The late Egypt Ptolemaic Era supplied us with hundreds of paintings of the people who were wrapped in their sarcophagi. The painters' impressive art skills reveal portraits that are very much alive, of people you could see these days in the streets. Probably, people did have paintings of themselves and their loved ones inside their homes as well. The many Fayum portraits discovered speak of this interest in preserving a memory. Depending on a person's budget, the portraits were painted in more detail; others only look recognizable, yet still very touching and alive. Did those portraits move from the house walls to the grave of the person after his or her death?
No Fayum equivalents have been discovered in Greek antiquity. Far from being strangers to the arts, they must have had such paintings inside their homes. In times when love between men was common knowledge, it was celebrated in verse, song, and bas-reliefs. I wish I could see such family paintings.
A jump forward in time. A large number of vintage photos showing two men together have been preserved. I recommend 'Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love' by H. Nini & N. Treadwell. I don't imagine this started happening only with the advent of photography.
The small paintings here are purely based on imagination. I made some in gouache, watercolor, oil, or Painter, a digital program.
I bring these possible portraits out of history, out of the closet, and even if they did not sit for me as models, I pay my tribute to their love for each other."
