Monday, March 20, 2017

Cornerstone Micrography

My darling husband was going to prepare a Cornerstone scroll for Malatesta, but ended up in a medical emergency situation and he was unable to do it, much to his regret. Superhero wife comes to the rescue! My superhero costume closely resembles a bathrobe and slippers, folks. Don't be too impressed. This was done back in January.

This piece had to be done very quickly, given the deadline and the necessity that I be at the hospital with said husband. Therefore, I tried my hand at micrography, also called microcalligraphy. This is a Jewish art form which uses words to create images, dating back to at least the 9th Century. This article at the British Library shows some examples and history.

I sketched Malatesta's seven pointed comet, and wrote the scroll text to create the image in her heraldic colors. I'm afraid this was done so late at night that I didn't keep a copy of the wording in order to tell you what it says, and the image is too fuzzy to read. Basically it talks about Malatesta's amazing dedication to service in her official capacity as Lady in Waiting and in other roles as well. If you don't know this very fine gentle, you should!

I had envisioned their Excellencies signing this along the line down the center of the comet's tail, hence the penciled in line.