Frame in Focus: Marriage in Art

This week’s Frame in Focus is our website example FoR the Happy Couple. We’ve therefore been contemplating the way that marriage can be represented in art, along with the ramifications of its representation.

The precise meaning of marriage has come under scrutiny in recent years. Contentions around same-sex marriage, polygamy relative to immigration, and the marrying of child brides, have seen the very essence of marriage reframed against multiple social, legal, political and religious backdrops. As the parameters of marriage shift and bend to the will and desire of our times, there are increasingly cases of people not only marrying other people, but trees, cars and even their pets(!) By definition it is the legally and formally recognised union of two people as partners in a personal relationship. However, a secondary definition positions it as simply ‘a combination or mixture of elements’. This second and more general depiction seems to hold a resonance for us at Frames of Reference in the work we do. It seems fitting that we work with our customers to bring together a combination or mixture of elements from people’s lives to celebrate or commemorate the unions that they have or that they celebrate for others.

Upon looking into paintings that portray marriages we were intrigued to learn about the way that art was often installed in the bedrooms of young marrieds, in order to stimulate the union. Art historians have reported that in the fourteenth century there was a practice of hanging horizontal paintings of female nudes directly over the bed of newly weds. The intention was to amorously encourage the young couple as they strove to bear children, but there was more to this than simply the erotic. It was also believed that by positioning works of great beauty before the eyes of a couple, the aesthetic splendour of the artwork could influence and inform the beauty of any offspring created in its presence.

We also came upon epithalamia; the poetry and verse that was written around this time in Italy to celebrate the brilliance of marriage. Interestingly, this poetry is thought to have been used as a direct inspiration for paintings at the time. As a company that specialise in expressing emotional sentiment through artwork we loved the thought that there could be a parallel drawn between this example and our own intentions of putting different art forms into conversation with each other in order to produce new work.

A specific example that contemplates marriage is Lorenzo Lotto’s Venus and Cupid (c. 1540). Venus was understood to be responsible for uniting couples, sanctioning and invigorating their passions and desire, making her a primary figure in many painted celebrations of marriage. In this particular painting she is accompanied by Cupid who is thought to be prompting her blessing at a marital ceremony. This particular artwork is believed to be inspired by the poetry of Statius and Cattalus. Reading into the symbolism of this work, we can see that Cupid is shown to be jesting; symbolic of the humorous sex and sexuality that was often included in such paintings in order that evils may be warded off within marriages themselves. Cupid is also shown to be urinating through the myrtle wreath that Venus holds up; despite seeming a little unusual to us as a contemporary audience his urinating is apparently a sign of fertility and good fortune in relation to the union. Contrastingly, a darker potential within marriage is also present, represented by the snake beneath the blue cloth upon which Venus reclines. More typical Italian and Venetian references to marriage then adorn the Venus, including the bridal tiara, pearl earing, and vail, confirming the painter’s referential treatment of marriage.

Here in the studio, we have not only been enjoying the idea that this art was inspired by poetry. We’re also enthused by the idea of art being imbued with multiple significances. Be these the ups and the downs, the laughter involved or the more serious and sombre moments, there is a variation that makes it seem dynamic and animated. When creating our Frame for the Happy Couple (as shown on our website) we really wanted to capture the sense of movement and vitality as the couple we were helping celebrate advanced towards their nuptials.

Our Frame FoR the Happy Couple was commissioned by a bridesmaid who was intent on creating something unique for her two close friends as they prepared to join in matrimony. She was keen that we capture a sense of the couple as individuals before they met as well as their union and their shared existence as a unit.

From our consultation it was clear that love and giving was an important and very present element in the pair’s daily lives. From their careers within paediatric medicine, to their staunch reputation as strong and supportive friends, right through to the humour that abounded around their beloved French bulldog, they were deemed to be two remarkable young people who spend a great deal of their time giving to others. It is perhaps unsurprising that those around them were so keen to be able to give them something that commemorated just how special they are.

With the groom hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, and the bride from Walsall, England, this Anglo-Celtic fusion saw both parties coming from large families and subsequently being highly family-oriented. Within the piece we created it was thought to be important that we captured this essence of connectedness and caring, as that felt very authentic with this duo. It was also key that the artwork was highly emotionally considered, as that is a quality that they exhibit themselves – especially when acting in affection for others.

On the basis that this couple were outlined to us as being little short of a modern-day fairy-tale, we wanted to create a piece that drew upon the notion of two individual stories coming together and formulating into one, greater collective story; a story they were legally beginning to write together via their marriage.

We therefore created a Frame that depicts two open books within its bottom corners, their pages blowing and unbinding from their spines; sweeping up into the central space where they appear to be curling and furling into a wedding bouquet. Each book houses pages and content from the couples lives individually, acknowledging their respective ‘stories’ prior to marriage. The bouquet is then composed from delicate roses, representative of an English bride, and sculptural thistles, embodying a Scottish groom, as they come together in union. These flowers are created from the texts, songs and printed maps that punctuate their story so far. Finally, the bouquet is wreathed in a melee of their favourite books.

In response to this work the bridesmaid who commissioned it commented:

“It’s so personal to the couple – it’s hard to believe that Phil has never met them! It’s such a beautiful piece. I keep taking it out of the box to look at it again. I can’t wait to give it to them, and at the same time I’m going to be sad to give it away because it’s come to feel personal to me too as a result of the process we’ve gone through together to create it.”

We love to think that the art that we create has the capacity to be part of a greater dialogue on some level, and is – in that sense – live. We don’t want our work to simply appear as a freezing of time and sentiment but instead as an incorporation of what has passed and will therefore go on to inform and stimulate thought, feeling and potentially even other artistic expressions. Admittedly, we’re not sure that the purpose of this piece will ever be to stimulate the production of children(!) as in the case of the aforementioned works of 14th century Italy, but we do hope it may act to bring additional beauty to their lives by evidencing and reinforcing their understanding of the remarkable connection that they have.

We wish the couple that this Frame was created for every happiness as they continue to write their story together.