My daughter, Sarah, has been blessed with
gorgeous red hair and she comes by it rightly.
My grandfather’s nickname was “Red”; when I was young, my hair was as red as Sarah’s. (Now it's more gray then red - HA! ). I
have pictures of the two of us when she was small and our hair color was
exactly the same. I remember detesting my red hair as I was growing up. I
wanted to be blonde – you know, “Blondes have more fun!” My daughter also wished she had different hair
until she was in her 20s. Now she loves
it.
A portrait of Sarah I painted on an 8x10 porcelain tile
Throughout history, being a redhead was not
necessarily a healthy thing to be. Redheads have
been subjected to discrimination and fearful prejudice, being viewed as
untrustworthy, mischievous, temperamental, and lustful. In ancient Egypt, red
hair was seen as so unlucky, red-haired girls were burned alive. According to
Greek myths, redheads turn into vampires when they die.
In
medieval Europe, the infamous witch-hunting manual, Malleus Maleficarum, instructed that red hair and
green eyes were marks of a witch, as were freckles (which most redheads are
prone to have). This belief might have stemmed from the general consensus that
redheads were evil, wanton, and hot-tempered. In the Bible, Mary Magdalene and
Judas Iscariot are often portrayed as redheads, as was Lilith, Adam’s first
wife who insisted on sexual equality. Even Jonathan Swift, in his 1726 classic Gulliver’s
Travels, characterized redheads as being wanton and promiscuous.
Elizabeth
Siddall was Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s model in the 1850s until her death in 1862. Her image is recognized worldwide as the
model for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. She had glorious red hair which was not
considered socially acceptable in the Victorian era.
Beata Beatrix by Rossetti
I'll share what I've learned about Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelites soon. It's absolutely FASCINATING!!
What does this have to do with cross stitch and needlework? Stay tuned ;)
Happy stitching -
Cheers!
