I thought that it gave Belle a subservient role to Elizabeth who was front and center in the painting. Belle was the legitimate heir. I would think that the protocol would be for her to be seated and front and center.
shareIn no way Belle was a legitimate heir. Even to her real father; he never admitted her, and his will didn't mention Belle. Her birth certificate gave us only her mother's name, as she was a slave, it makes Belle a slave, too.
As for her relations with Lord Mansfield, he was acting as her guardian, hardly more. She remained illegitimate, he provided her with some little money in his will, and confirmed her freedom. But that's all.
The Lord Mansfield's lawful heir was his nephew David Murray, the Viscount Stormont. So the estate and title surely remain in the family still.
Actually, the Mansfields who own Scone Palace and the portrait in question, had no idea who Belle was. The family assumed that the black girl was an Elizabeth Murray’s maid. And only in 1980s the local historian Gene Adams uncovered Belle’s connection to the Mandfield family.
You must be talking about the way that it REALLY happened. The movie had dialogue where Lady Ashford commented to her sons that Belle was heiress to the Estate.
shareYour post is about the picture.
Pray, tell me, how can a fictional movie from 2014 influence the 18 cent. picture? Poor painter. He was born too soon and had no idea that the black girl was a very grand person. As the Mansfields.
Lady Ashford said that Belle was an heiress (the money from her father), but did not say she was heiress to the estate. It was said a few times that there was a nephew who was going to get the estate and the bulk of the fortune.
Come, we must press against the tide of naughtiness. Mind your step.
Belle could not be heiress to the title or the estate regardless of her colour because she is a woman. Even if she had been Lord Mansfield's daughter she would not have inherited it must go to the closest male relative
The law prevented her from inheriting the title, yes. But there was no law preventing women from inheriting money and estates, hence the reason why Lady Ashford assumed that Elizabeth was going to inherit her uncle's estate and fortune. (Elizabeth's father, who is Lord Mansfield's nephew, is remarried and lives on the continent, which is perhaps why Lady Ashford didn't realize Elizabeth was not the heir.)
However, it seemed (in the film) as though the estate was entailed to Lord Mansfield's nephew, which is why neither Elizabeth nor Belle could have inherited.
Entails were legal devices used by families to make sure their grand homes, land and money were not divided among offspring. (They wanted to keep it all together.) Typically, an entail followed the rule of primogeniture, favoring eldest males of the male line. Lord Mansfield had no son, so his closest male relative (along the male line) was his nephew, Elizabeth's father.
In the film, it is mentioned that Elizabeth's father is favoring the children born of his second marriage over her, so she has no expectations of money from her father. Her father will not be providing her with a dowry to assist her in her marriage prospects.
Thanks, Pop Diva. It appears a lot of the posters are unfamiliar with Jane Austen p, EM Forster, and others, or they would already know this.
Darling, nothing is final 'til you're dead, and even then, I'm sure God negotiates.
The painting in the movie is an approximation of an actual 18th-century painting of these two historical people. The real painting is shown in the closing credits, and here is a link to it:
http://www.artsatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/8f4a5-didoelizabethbellepainting-300x255.jpg
The actual painting shows Belle in an exotic, colorful style that was popular for picturing beautiful black women in the art of that time. In the movie's approximation of the original painting, this style is toned down somewhat, removing the turban and making the two young women's style of dress more similar (as in fact, it may have been in real life--I think it's very probable that Belle's outfit in the original painting may have reflected the 18th-century painter's conventional flight of fantasy).
The movie contrasts this picture with others in the family gallery that show African servants in supplicating poses. The positioning of the two young women in both the real portrait and its movie version probably reflects their actual relationship in the eyes of society--Belle a beautiful, intriguing background figure for her white companion, whose affection is demonstrated by the gesture of her right arm.
Good enough image of the real picture of Dido and Elizabeth, which is in Scone Palace (Scotland) now, not easy to find still. Most of those in the Web are very poor copies; I saw the picture and get the catalogue when visited the Palace; but no one copy is able to do justice to this picture.
But I found a very nice one at last:
http://img23.binimage.org/f8/41/32/jones.jpg
You can also see the painting on Wikipedia: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dido_Elizabeth_Belle.jpg.
And all the pieces matter (The Wire)share
Per Wikipedia it was the first painting to place an African on an equal eye line with a European aristocrat. So for its time it was quite progressive.
It certainly does give Belle a subservient role, and even more so in the original painting:
Elisabeth sits upright on a bench with a book in her hand, nearly like on a throne and the book is like a proof of her wisdom and intelligence. Contrary, Dido is not sitting and has a tray with fruits in her left hand. Dido’s upper body bows front. Those are quite strong signs for servantry. Her right hand points to her face. This is a playful, cheeky expression. It also highlights her difference. Her cloth: A turban and the transparent scarf moved by the wind underline her exoticness even further.
Elisabeth sits on the right side of Dido, exactly in the golden ratio. Dido appears on the left side of the painting, in the golden ratio between Elisabeth’ head and the left border of the painting, giving her a clear second rate in the painting’s hierachy. Then, Elizabeth sits in the middle of the bench, rather more on the left side. Dido wouldn’t really have space to sit down left of her. Dido’s tray hides parts of her body, the leaves on it resemble the trees behind the bench. At first glance, it appears as if Dido would jump form behind the bushes from the back of the bench, bringing Elizabeth fruits. At second glance it is left open if Dido was sitting next to Elizabeth, or if she just passed by to offer fruits to Elizabeth and now rushes away as someone is approaching, causing her to be out of place. The upright Elizabeth holds Dido: They are not hands in hands like equal cousins, they are not turning towards each other either. For the fact that their cloth touch at the lower part of their bodies, their heads could not be further away from each other. Elizabeth rather holds her like a child or a toy.
Yet Elizabeth holds her back, as if she would say in a benign way, don’t go, although you are different, you can stay. And there is the famous same eye-line. Dido’s left eye is exactly at the same height as Elisabeth’s eyes and she is looking streight in your eyes. These are the only elements that clearly show: no she is not just a servant. These are the elements making this painting one of its kind. But it definitely is not an equal visualization of two cousins. The painting rather shows the conflict: bloodline vs acceptable appearance
I think its great that the film tells the story of a painting. There is few historical evidence of Dido beside of this picture and probably the film would not exist without it. I liked the film and how it dealt with the topic of slave trade in a rather subtly way. But I think they just should have used the original painting. Such paintings are stylized and not photorealistic anyways. In the new painting, the exotic turban and the coquettish gesture is gone. Dido’s head is upright now, causing Dido’s eyes to be higher than Elizabeth’. Remember: The amazing thing was the same eye-line, which gave them at least some equality. And this is missing, which is a shame.
original
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dido_Elizabeth_Belle#/media/File:Dido_Elizabeth_Belle.jpg
movie version:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPbX-ItF1kA/?taken-by=dnanigo