This Biblical image has always seemed extraordinary to me. If you were going to think of something impossible - why not an elephant - were the camels' humps of some importance, adding an extra dimension of difficulty in getting it through the eye of the needle ? But as it turns out, it was all down to a miss-translation from Greek to Latin - kamelos and kamilos, the latter meaning rope !
The nomadic Fakirani Jats of Kutch are camel breeders and the women are noted for their embroidery - they originated from the Sindh district of Pakistan, but with the partition of India and Pakistan, they became separated from the original tribe and now wander the desert regions of Kutch with their herds of camels, constantly on the move in search of water and grazing.
There is something wonderful and exotic seeing them set off with all their tents and belongings loaded onto the top of a camel - walking one behind the other, they create vibrant colour in the barren dusty landscape, as their animals undulate along the road in their unhurried progress. These 'ships of the desert', with inscrutable expressions, always enlivened Renaissance paintings of the Nativity and the procession of the Three Kings - showing the artist's lack of first-hand knowledge of these animals from the East, in depicting them with random proportions and vague anatomical detail !
Could Gentile da Fabriano, ever have imagined a camel carrying it's calf on its back, wrapped in a hand woven cloth bag ? Now that would have been a fabulous detail to observe in a 15th c painting of the 'Adoration of the Magi' - how evocative it would have been of the difficulties of a long, long, journey!
The nomadic Fakirani Jats of Kutch are camel breeders and the women are noted for their embroidery - they originated from the Sindh district of Pakistan, but with the partition of India and Pakistan, they became separated from the original tribe and now wander the desert regions of Kutch with their herds of camels, constantly on the move in search of water and grazing.
There is something wonderful and exotic seeing them set off with all their tents and belongings loaded onto the top of a camel - walking one behind the other, they create vibrant colour in the barren dusty landscape, as their animals undulate along the road in their unhurried progress. These 'ships of the desert', with inscrutable expressions, always enlivened Renaissance paintings of the Nativity and the procession of the Three Kings - showing the artist's lack of first-hand knowledge of these animals from the East, in depicting them with random proportions and vague anatomical detail !
Could Gentile da Fabriano, ever have imagined a camel carrying it's calf on its back, wrapped in a hand woven cloth bag ? Now that would have been a fabulous detail to observe in a 15th c painting of the 'Adoration of the Magi' - how evocative it would have been of the difficulties of a long, long, journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment