This oil-painting by John Everett Millais was created in the 19th century, during the time in Fairy Tale history when the transition from adult salon stories to children's pedagogical stories was taking place. This is not an illustration for a written version of the story, therefore, but an artistic rendition of the girl and the story's theme, meant for the older and sophisticated generation to appreciate. What strikes me is her age. She is pretty, as a young girl, but not the object of desire you'd expect from the "Donkeyskin" type Cinderella stories. In fact, this image may justify the amount of time the story-tellers spent on describing the GARMENTS rather than the NATURE BEAUTY of Cinderella. Beauty, for this young Cinderella, is hard to measure in a I'm-a-prince-picking-out-his-lover sort of way but for the accessories that she wears.
This is very typical of Millais and the Pre-Raphaelites (the movement with which he is associated). The movement emphasized painting good pieces of art based on truth and nature. This is typical of Millais because the subject is from a story and the girl seems very natural in her surroundings. She is beautiful for her age and the painting has an overall beauty that was true of its age.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it seems like all of the eroticism associated with the Donkey Skin stories is taken out of this illustration. It seems like it's more emphasizing the essential purity and innocence that a patriarchal society desires from young girls especially.
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