How do today’s official images differ from those of the past?
One artist put her mind to such issues in a series of portraits.
The chimes of the Westminster bells have long since rung, photographers and broadcasters have returned to their news offices and, now that the media circus around William and Kate’s April nuptials has dispersed, the thousands of die-hard Royals fans have left the sidewalks of the royal wedding route with only fleeting moments captured on film.
As the infamous couple rode down Whitehall as the future King and Queen of England audiences around the world were treated to media coverage so detailed you felt like you were in the Queen’s land itself.
But go back a few hundred years and the situation would be very different.
What if the young royals could only share one portrait with the world; one image to capture every facet of the wedding of the year? What would it look like? What details of the day would it hold?
Renowned Australian multimedia artist Alexia Sinclair suggests the image-conscious couple would ensure that every pixel portrayed them in a light suitable for prospective sovereigns.
“You look at Royals today and everything they do is photographed and documented so they tend keep themselves ‘cleaner’ than back in the day,” says Alexia whose most recent series of art depicts public figures of the past. “But some of the things they did back in the day were phenomenal.”
Princes, warlords, dandies and diplomats take the stage to form Alexia’s lavish new series of portraits titled The Royal Dozen. Through the study of nobility in history and portraiture, Alexia produced twelve innovative artworks over three years which follow on from her previous series The Regal Twelve.
Legends of the lives of the nobles in the series continue to captivate us today, from the pampered decadence of Louis XIV to the epic legend of Alexander the Great. Other rulers who form this series are less renowned yet equally intriguing. An unusual blend of royalty, their selection was based on their contrasts in leadership, their flamboyancies and their enduring influence upon society.
“For instance,” Alexia tells, “I picked the Pope Alexander VI because he was famous for having an orgy in the Vatican. He was quite an evil man and the stories you hear you think can’t possibly be true.”
The Spanish-born Pope was one of the most controversial Renaissance popes in history. A famous account documents an orgy Alexander hosted along with his illegitimate children Cesare and Lucrezia at the Vatican named The Ballet of the Chestnuts.
It is rumoured that Lucrezia was in possession of a hollow ring and goblet that she used frequently to poison the drinks and meals of the Borgia enemies. The ring and goblet are symbolised within the ornamentation along with the chestnuts the pope is fondling in memory of The Ballet of the Chestnuts held in the Papal Palace on October 30, 1501. Fifty prostitutes were in attendance for the entertainment of the banquet guests. After the food was eaten, lamp stands holding lighted candles were placed on the floor and chestnuts strewn about. The clothes of the courtesans were auctioned then the prostitutes and the guests crawled naked among the lamp stands to pick up the chestnuts. Immediately following the spectacle, members of the clergy and other party guests together engaged with the prostitutes in sexual activity. In the background, Alexia has adorned the walls with paintings of seductive women, below the dome of the Pantheon in reference to this.
“I wasn’t interested in producing a series of one type of person who did wonderful, golden things for their monarchy – I’m interested in all types of personas,” says Alexia.
Because the clergy prohibited this work to be conducted inside St Peters Basilica, the interior of Pope Alexander’s dome was shot in France and digitally transformed to be reminiscent of the Vatican. The Pope is role played by Donald Bellisario, producer and writer of NCIS, Jag and Magnum P.I.
“I needed a character that had a hooked nose. I thought of him immediately and knew he lived in Sydney three months of the year so I approached him – he loved doing it.”
Travelling the globe photographing architecture and landscapes, Alexia returned to Australia to hand make bespoke costuming for each portrait.
Photographing role-playing models and props in the studio, she then meticulously stitched
together her photographs and hand illustrations like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. In the style of the renaissance masters, Alexia weaved a myriad of symbols and motifs into each portrait, allowing each story to unfold. Exploring the complexities of the famous, the infamous and the obscure, these portraits celebrate historical realities within the guise of contemporary fantasy, a kind of conversation between the past and present.
“The thing with history is once you find one person who fascinates you, you start to piece things together. The more characters you hear about in history, the easier it is for you to interpret it. Before you know it, you’re hooked.”
The availability and access of locations, models and costuming was a major influence in the final twelve characters selected from the 2000 years of history The Royal Dozen covers. For example, the composition of Charles II - The Merrie Monarch (1630-1685) was reliant on what she was able to capture on her day of shooting.
“I researched all the different palaces and found out that Hampton Court was Charles II’s favourite. I caught the train out and when I got there I found I couldn’t shoot inside because the Queen has copyright of the interior. By the time I explored the whole palace and went outside the sun was setting. That’s how the image started and from there I worked towards lighting my character in the studio in the same way.
“I love his flamboyant character with huge wigs and big, ruffled ties and ribbons. His father had his head chopped off and the monarchy was dissolved. He came back from France from being with his cousin, Louis XIV (who is also in the series) and brought with him all the flamboyancies of France. I loved the idea of shooting him with his puppies because King Charles Spaniels take their title from this king.”
Alexia’s ability to imply memorable aspects of each character through symbolism is a talent she has explored to its fullest in The Royal Dozen. In Napoleon Bonaparte - Emperor of the French (1769-1821) there is far more to this particular work than the eye can see.
“Notice the character has no penis,” Alexia quips, “that’s because it’s me!”
The eagle perched on her arm is symbolic of Napoleon’s reign of the French empire. Like the Roman legions centuries before them, Napoleon Bonaparte's armies carried eagles proudly at their head. Upon his fall, the restored monarchy of Louis XVIII ordered all eagles to be destroyed and only a very small number escaped the vengeful act. Napoleon also adopted the bee motif as a symbol of his reign.
“I put out the word that I needed a bee and a friend brought me one that had spent six hours dying on her veranda. Now that one bee is immortalised hundreds of times in this image. When you see the image live, you also see a bee placed all throughout the costuming.”
Unlike the insect, Alexia believes a complete image should never be repeated. “If you’re saying the same thing twice there’s no reason to say it again. My greatest fear is that I didn’t produce something that is new and my new work hasn’t outdone my last series. To me, that would mean I should stop making work.”
The 35-year-old says she is defined by her art and its perception by the audience.
“The reaction of my audience is so varied. From a photography perspective, you have purist photographers who don’t like the manipulation of an image – even though nothing goes to print without some form of manipulation. On the other side, you have people who completely embrace technology as I have and are amazed by my style of work. Outside of the professional industry, people have no concept of the amount of thought and detail within the image. When I’m producing an image and the symbolic referencing within it, every little tweak means something to me.”
Nakita Ardern
www.alexiasinclair.com
