She was a real person (here portrayed in a painting by Charles William Mitchell in 1885). She was a world-famous mathematician and teacher of astronomy, and the last librarian of the Library of Alexandria.
"There was a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia, daughter of the philosopher Theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time. Having succeeded to the school of Plato and Plotinus, she explained the principles of philosophy to her auditors, many of whom came from a distance to receive her instructions. On account of the self-possession and ease of manner which she had acquired in consequence of the cultivation of her mind, she not infrequently appeared in public in the presence of the magistrates. Neither did she feel abashed in going to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her extraordinary dignity and virtue admired her the more."So why did the painter depict her naked? Because she was stripped by a mob before they murdered her during violent Christian-Jewish clashes in Alexandria in 415 CE (details at Wikipedia).
Image via Large Size Paintings.
I do believe they made a film about her.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186830/
It's not too bad.
Thanks for introducing Hypatia! More people should know about this remarkable woman. As Rexybaby said, the movie Agora is not too bad, but it is a fictional take on Hypatia's life. I did a "reel vs. real" analysis of the movie on my blog and have written about her extensively. Anyone wanting to know more should check out the biography Hypatia of Alexandria by Professor Maria Dzielska (Harvard Press, 1997.)
ReplyDeleteAre there any naked Einstein pictures available to show for equal time? Or Pythagoras or Newton or Hawking? Would people think that the artist was warped for wanting to paint them?
ReplyDeleteAs a woman with an advanced degree, it's hard not to be a little offended by the image. It's as if a woman mathematician is so unthinkable that her clothes need to be ripped off to see if she's real.
Here's what you requested -
Deletehttp://fineartamerica.com/featured/einstein-relatively-nude-karine-percheron-daniels.html
As you're a woman with an advanced degree, I find myself incredulous to the fact that you don't seem to realize the absurdity of your own comment, specifically in light of the subject matter.
Deletehttp://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3809931?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21101128747221
Minnesotastan, I gotta agree - the naked Einstein has been painted. Wow. Why?
DeleteTBH - I see your point but still disagree. Sure, she was killed by those threatened by her intelligence. But that's a lame excuse for portraying her in a way that titillates pubescent boys more than it shares any truth about her intellect.
uses this fact from history as an excuse to of who she was.
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Delete"It's as if a woman mathematician is so unthinkable that her clothes need to be ripped off to see if she's real."
DeleteExactly. Your comment is not absurd, it is illuminating. Thank you.
>As a woman with an advanced degree, it's hard not to be a little offended by the image. It's as if a woman mathematician is so unthinkable that her clothes need to be ripped off to see if she's real.
DeleteIt's a painting that's very much of its time, but I have to agree with your point.At least history remembers her primarily for her intellectual accomplishments and the unjustness of her death.
In terms of the explanation given with the paragraph accompanying the illustration, I don't recall Einstein being stripped naked by the violent mob about to kill him. Perhaps the artist was suggesting that even though this mob considered pulling off Hypatia's clothes as the ultimate humiliation, she stood proud of who she was -- woman and scholar, among other things -- in the face of their insanity.
DeleteThen there's the artistic tradition of portraying some (and certainly a tiny percentage, overall) of women naked. Reasons for this, even though you might not agree, are best handled by art historians of both genders.
And you might consider too that not a few men, in the course of great art, also have been rendered without their clothes on. Michelangelo's "David" is the most obvious. You might also check out Velazquez's "Mars," who (even though his penis is covered) is perhaps the most naked male you're likely to see on canvas.
Just sayin'.
Let us not forget her namesake, the fictional Hypatia (aka Tia) Cade from Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey's book THE SHIP WHO SEARCHED. And some of the history of the real Hypatia is included in the book.
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Now if that illo had been included in my algebra text, there'd have been a lot more interest in the subject.
ReplyDeleteLurker111
I love this blog.
ReplyDeleteYea... she looks Greek.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to a youtube video of Carl Sagan decribing the Library of Alexandria, where she worked. Posting because I love Cosmos and Carl Sagan, plus it has to do with this post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixnM7S9tLw
ReplyDeleteGood link - thanks, Stephen.
DeleteDid anyone read the wiki entry about her? The more things change the more they stay the same: murdered by an angry mob of 500 presumably devout monks because she apparently influenced the governor, Orestes, not to submit to the will of the local bishop Cyril who, unlike modern bishops, had real power and wanted her out of the picture. A religious leader wanting to get rid of the opposition? Now where have I heard that before? Hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteI think that it is also important to point out that Hypatia only fell victim after another party, the Jews, were cast out and plundered. I only say this because we often are passive when some other group is quarreling and we do not want to get involved (Hello WW2).
DeleteLarger sample of John of Nikiu's text from where Wikipee borrows ~ http://www.cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-john.html
It's entirely reasonable to feel frustrated that given her vast contributions, she's ultimately remembered as a nude. That said, we have to remember that contextually, this makes perfect sense. It isn't as much a belittlement of her as a thinker, rather the only real way these artists had to fund their homages to these people at the time they were working. I'm thankful we have this remembrance of her, clothed or not. It was likely the only way any artist had to pay honor to her.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. And nudity isn't everyone's hangup (I'm looking at you, USA). For many of us, this is more about the theft of clothing than the exposure of skin.
DeleteAnd I much prefer the context of this image (the moment chosen: just before all is lost) rather than her curled on the floor while a mob beats her to death.
I'm fine with nudity, too. It is not clothes that make the mathematician or the philosopher...
Delete...but one has to realize that the good lady was about 60 years old at the time, or so they say
Not only 60 years old, but almost certainly not pale and blonde, given that she was a native of what is now Egypt...
DeleteYou understand she was Greek, not "Egyptian."
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