An old illustration of Aphrodite & Ares dressed up as Cinderella & the Prince that choose to marry her after receiving her chopine heels! 👠 Since the hotter and the more humid tropical summer becomes, with cloudy monsoon rains, the more that I am thinking of Halloween !! From a dark #royalcore -themed ball in a historic castle to a spooky good time; with every moment of them being together feels like a fairy tale came true. 🎃 🏰🤴👰♀️
This illustration is inspired by the oldest variants of the tale: two Greek courtesans from Late Antiquity, Aspasia of Phocaea and Rhodopis of Naucratis, Egypt; as well the stories of Ye Xian (Diệp Thiên) and “Tấm & Cám” that I grew up with. However, I went with a late 14th-early 15th-century design for their look, instead- between the late Middle Ages - the early Italian Renaissance. Ares’ clothes reflected the 14th-century Byzantine Greek tradition in his bejeweled crown, long-robed imperial regalia & the armor that he & his horse wore. Aphrodite’s clothes reflected the situation of 15th century Cyprus - despite under the Venetians, still being an important trading center of the Eastern Mediterranean where Venetians, Franks, Byzantine Greeks, Jews, Cilicians Armenians, & Levantine Arabs culturally intermingled & interlinked with each other.
The Cinderella castle I based on was the Late Byzantine “Palace of the Despots” complex, located in Mystras, just above the ruins of ancient Sparta. Some of the oldest parts of the palace were first built during the late 13th century by the Franks under the rule of Prince William de Villehardouin, in a Norman/Gothic style; but were later seized back, renovated, & expanded by the Byzantines to become the last center of learning and arts for a short time during the Palaiologos dynasty. Hence the new parts of the castle carry a mix of Late Byzantine & Venetian Gothic architecture instead.
P/S: Venezia also had tons of commercial hubs/colonies in the eastern Mediterranean during that time, trading with the Eastern Mediterranean/Middle East, hence there were tons of arts & architectural/cultural influences. And that Italy, as a whole, experienced waves of many Byzantine refugees prior, which led to the reintroduction of the Greco-Roman classics. (Italian Renaissance)
