All the Frills: Picturing Namesakes

When we did a little redecorating recently I also used it as an opportunity to make sure that I had a picture of each of Eleanor’s namesakes hanging in her room.

Her first middle name, Elizabeth, was easy as I already own about 15 framed portraits of Elizabeth I. I cut out and framed images from a Rifle Paper Company queens desk calendar to have a more whimsical portrait of Elizabeth (in this case a take on the Armada portrait) and also put a small version of the Ermine portrait I already had in Eleanor’s room.

Her first name, Eleanor, was a bit harder to find an image for as Eleanor of Aquitaine was never the subject of a portrait that has survived. So I settled for an image of her tomb (and I do need to get a photo of Eleanor Roosevelt in here as my Eleanor is named like 80% for Eleanor of Aquitaine but 20% for the former First Lady).

Finally there was her second middle name, Medea. And this one was the real challenge as the only real images of Medea are depictions on Attic vases and pottery, none of which really print and frame well as they’re three-dimensional objects being photographed. So I spent a lot of time doing some digging and came up with this print of a costume decided for an eighteenth-century French court ballet production of Euripides’s Medea. I think my digging paid off!

Weekend Reading:

• This is such a moving piece.
  
• Some of these “fashion” fails are just hilarious.
  
• I can get behind a lot of the episodes on this list.
  
• Well it’s obviously a mark of class privilege to even have the ability to take an extended parental leave, this essay resonated with me as I’ve seen the degree to which my partner is lauded while on leave with Eleanor (certainly to a degree that women performing full-time childcare rarely are).
  
• This guy was really attached to his bag. And I get it.