The saying ‘every painter paints himself’ was first documented as far back as the early Renaissance period, but it has been discussed or alluded to by artists ever since. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci used it; Michelangelo even inserted himself into his last fresco, The Crucifixion of St Peter, in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel. Gauguin appeared in his The Little One … [Read more...] about The shadow in the corner: Margaret Fay Shaw
pioneering women
Erased from history: women gardeners
Girls will be boys? The terms of employment were simple, if a little strange. The first two women admitted to the staff at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1897 were to be known as 'boys' and had to dress like boys too. That meant tucking their long hair under a boy’s cap and coming to and from work in an overcoat big enough to cover what they were wearing underneath — … [Read more...] about Erased from history: women gardeners