JEWELS & FEMMES FATALES (OR NOT)...
Les Bijoux - C. Baudelaire
La très chère était nue, et, connaissant mon coeur,
Elle n'avait gardé que ses bijoux sonores,
Dont le riche attirail lui donnait l'air vainqueur
Qu'ont dans leurs jours heureux les esclaves des Mores.
Elle n'avait gardé que ses bijoux sonores,
Dont le riche attirail lui donnait l'air vainqueur
Qu'ont dans leurs jours heureux les esclaves des Mores.
(...)
The Jewels
The dearest was naked, and knowing my heart well,
The dearest was naked, and knowing my heart well,
She was wearing only her sonorous jewels,
Whose opulent display made her look triumphant
Like Moorish concubines on their fortunate days.
Whose opulent display made her look triumphant
Like Moorish concubines on their fortunate days.
(...)
There's indeed something savage and primitive in a naked woman wearing jewels. Gems give her an appearance of wild and unruly (even disquieting) beauty.
As I read again that poem by Baudelaire, I remembered some pictures I filed now and then in my vault. I think they might be an interesting complement to this post.
Starting with a classical painting by Ferdinand Roybet "Odalisque"
and the famous Ingres's "Odalisque avec Esclave". There's more, of course, much more, if we look at paintings with mythological subjects or portraits of royal mistresses.
It is even said that, in order to seduce Caesar, Cleopatra smuggled herself to his presence, rolled into a rug and wearing nothing but her jewels to stun him when the rug was un-rolled.
Not to speak of Salomé who succeeded in having her step-father so aroused with her dance of the seven veils at the end of which she was naked, adorned only of her beauty and her jewels, that he had John the Baptist killed and beheaded, so she could make a present of his head to her mother Herodiade
Both above paintings are of one of my favourite artists, Gustave Moreau. But more recent artists have dealt with this theme and particularly with Cleopatra and Salomé. For instance, Laurent Paturaud, an interesting illustrator
or, among many others, Rose Moxon
Lions (or cubs) and other animals seem to be a leitmotiv
Likewise, more recently, there's a large contribution from the fashion system, be it to enhance the advertisement of jewels
fragrances
accessories
*
naughty lingerie
swimwear
Isn't she lovely ? Ohh....right, we were talking about jewels! All kinds of ...
It is even said that, in order to seduce Caesar, Cleopatra smuggled herself to his presence, rolled into a rug and wearing nothing but her jewels to stun him when the rug was un-rolled.
Not to speak of Salomé who succeeded in having her step-father so aroused with her dance of the seven veils at the end of which she was naked, adorned only of her beauty and her jewels, that he had John the Baptist killed and beheaded, so she could make a present of his head to her mother Herodiade
Both above paintings are of one of my favourite artists, Gustave Moreau. But more recent artists have dealt with this theme and particularly with Cleopatra and Salomé. For instance, Laurent Paturaud, an interesting illustrator
or, among many others, Rose Moxon
Lions (or cubs) and other animals seem to be a leitmotiv
Likewise, more recently, there's a large contribution from the fashion system, be it to enhance the advertisement of jewels
accessories
*
swimwear
Isn't she lovely ? Ohh....right, we were talking about jewels! All kinds of ...
Like...Marie-Antoinette's replica jewels
Or very personal and intimate adornments (not for my taste but to each her/his own!)
rear and....front (if we can call it front, of course !)
mmm...not clear enough ?
brrrr... (that's a shiver, if you didn't understand)
Jewels and nudity...yes, with endless variations on the theme. From "almost naked"
to "more than naked"
Photo Cedric Buchet for Vogue
Photo Cedric Buchet for Vogue
Wouldn't you spend some time in a convent with nuns like these ?
What can imagination do, with some rhymes written about 150 years ago...
Who says poetry is boring ?
Oh, of course, how can we not listen to the "Air des Bijoux" from Charles Gounod's Faust ?
Margherite sings: Ah je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir (I laugh at seeing how beautiful I am in the mirror) as she lets her hands dip into a mound of jewels...
Margherite sings: Ah je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir (I laugh at seeing how beautiful I am in the mirror) as she lets her hands dip into a mound of jewels...
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