A medieval casket that breaks the fourth wall | Gothic Ivories 2 | Curator's Corner S7 Ep6

[@orsettomorbido]

"The chatelaine is filled with shame, and she dies" What a mood.

[@iambiggus]

Starting to wonder if this is where George Lucas got his inspiration

[@ecurewitz]

The only one who should be full of shame is the duchess

[@dan13ljks0n]

Yeah, that kinda happens alot in ancient stories.

[@PhilJonesIII]

@@dan13ljks0n Not so very different today: For certain things, even the suggestion of wrongdoing, even less, actual proof, can bring careers and reputations to ruin.

[@sean659]

Did you know most of the artifacts in the British Museum were stolen?

[@MikkellTheImmortal]

My favorite part of the 4th wall break is the dukes left hand positioned in a way to seem as if he were leaning against a window or an imaginary wall

[@scottbilger9294]

More like breaking the first wall

[@mithramusic5909]

@@Spearca that's still a fourth wall break, because it draws attention directly to the fourth wall. If you make the audience aware of it, that's it. That's the whole thing.

[@rageagainstthebath]

This should literally be printed as a tiny 4-page comic book and distributed in the museum

[@agerven]

That would be a good idea, and i would most certainly order it on-line.

[@sandie157]

Great idea. Also made available electronically .

[@mortalclown3812]

Excellent notion. I'm all in.

[@lilaralston6314]

There is a medieval manuscript in the Hargrett Rare Book Library at UGA that we used to call "The Spanish Comic Book". It has very much the same feel. IIRC it illustrates miracles performed by a statue of the Virgin and Child, including a cure for impotence (delivered by a beam of light thru the bedroom window) and the taming of a runaway bull.

[@queefelizabeth4497]

UK has no shame displaying stolen artifacts.

[@robertmcgovern8850]

"...and the figures are looking at each other in astonishment." Well, you would, right? You are working your way thru an estampie, sweating a little in your best woolen gown and wondering if there are any more of those little honey cakes, and suddenly your host lops of his wife's head right there in front of you. There must be a proper court etiquette for this sort of thing, but you've only reached Chapter VII of Lady Griselda's Book of Manners and Morals and she never mentions any of this!

[@zaker721]

Lady Griselda, you have failed us! If ever we needed guidelines for how to conduct ourselves it is NOW! By the way, who got the dog?

[@robertmcgovern8850]

@@zaker721 Oh *here* it is under Chapter XII, "Red Weddyngs and Other Aukward Scenes." It says "Make ye an excuse of hedache and retyre to thine room. Bar full well thy door."

[@nokomarie1963]

@@zaker721 The Duke. He could become a reformed dog.

[@samw5767]

@@zaker721 Yes, indeed. Who got the dog?

[@pirjo3685]

😂😂😂😂

[@draigaur9543]

the skill of the carvers is amazing

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

The artistry is amazing…I can see why it’s your favorite. The artist clearly had a sense of humor!

[@Jmoneypoprocks]

I was captivated for the entire length of the video. Great work!

[@moaningpheromones]

I wasn't to start with but then I capitulated.

[@gretchenchristophel1169]

"In days of olde, when knights were bolde...and knighthood was in flower" Thanks for a great explanation, that I am sure I would have never figured out.

[@cammielinford9919]

“The dog watching on them curiously” 🤣🤣🤣 yep, pretty relatable

[@PeaceLoveHonor]

Wow, really interesting, especially with the one character leaving the set boundaries of his panels. Thanks for showing/explaining it!

[@rhondahuggins9542]

I understand why it's your favorite!! There are so many artistic techniques that most of us would characterize as contemporary. Wondrously brilliant and dramatic!🤩❤ Thank you for sharing it!

[@MorwenWhyte]

Lovely to see every now and then that there were great designers in all ages with similar ideas no matter what technologies were available to them. Tools change, ingenuity remains.

[@lzkovacs]

brilliant storytelling, thank you!

[@watchfan210]

Please continue the ivory presentations… Learned so much and enjoyed the beautiful objects

[@ICXCTSARSLAVY]

Great and fascinating story. The little French humourous touches on the comic cover were brilliant. Merveille Comics.... 3 Denier, 1288AD

[@JJONNYREPP]

A medieval casket that breaks the fourth wall | Gothic Ivories 2 | Curator's Corner S7 Ep5 2246pm 30.6.22 i'd be a really good medieval story teller... more absurd medieval story telling as opposed to sara millican's more uncouth style. uncouth is a medieval style, though...

[@trinitytwo14992]

Great story, well said. Such a lovely artistic piece, they had incredible craftsmen and artisans. This is priceless, as a sculptor myself I can tell you I am in awe of its beauty. Thank you.

[@dan13ljks0n]

Even in ivory, this had to have taken quite awhile to make. The work on the faces is excellent!

[@stevemyers8330]

Well told! Great job, Naomi!

[@queenbodicea]

Thank you so much Naomi for sharing. I never would have guessed the story by simply looking at the engravings. You presented a beautiful but tragic story. I love it when things are explained like this!

[@MrChristiangraham]

This is quite wonderful, Naomi - and I loved your retelling of it. Thank you!

[@ramona14220]

If you thought that story was going to have a happy ending you just hadn't been paying attention.

[@nicholasblanton8464]

In the last panel, what looked like trumpets now look a bit like shawms, a "free reed" instrument. It's handy to be able to have two, so one musician can catch his/her breath while the other plays a phrase. Breton bombarde players use this technique so much that it's also become characteristic when two singers are doing the music.

[@PieterBreda]

Great workmanship. That is stunningly well made. That artist was very talented

[@kingofhearts826]

Wonderful story and interpretation, wonderful designing and masterful ivory carving! Thank you very much for the great story telling!

[@lorettabertoli3736]

I NEED to see this casket next time I can come to London and visit the British Museum...and I agree with other comments here, this should be literally made into a comic strip and distributed in the Museum,it's awesome!

[@kev3d]

Plot twist: The Dog masterminded the whole thing.

[@JoeLeasure]

Absolutely fascinating. Excellent presentation too. It really opens up the richness of the item.

[@SigneofHorses]

The details like the buttoned sleeves on the dresses .. so wonderful to see this walk through

[@mojosbigsticks]

Without context it's another box. With the story - wow! Thank you so much.

[@465maltbie]

Amazing, I do love the Dukes journey through the panes, so glad you pointed it out. Charles

[@penihavir1777]

I see both times that the duchess talks to her husband privately, she’s doing so sitting on their bed, and has raised her dress to expose her leg, presumably feigning a show of fidelity to the Duke (I love you, I didn’t want him”).

[@mnossy11]

That’s actually the duke showing his leg lol

[@apcolleen]

Definition of chatelaine 1a: the wife of a castellan : the mistress of a château b: the mistress of a household or of a large establishment Definition of castellan : a governor or warden of a castle

[@hannahr5997]

What a wonderful and beautiful ways to tell a story! The artwork is amazing, I wish things where still made with such an detailed skills

[@jorneichhorn3397]

What a great story to be revealed only by scientific research. If this is known, certainly it is worth a follow-up episode who gave the order to manufacture the casket and to whom it was given on what purpose. One might assume there is hidden another great story.

[@joanhamilton2651]

It would be great if all carved caskets shown in museums would have the story told in detail like this one was. I loved it. Thank you

[@PossumMedic]

"Curiously watched on by the dog" Pets... 🙄 always trying to catch a free show! 😂

[@2MuchPurple]

Amazing story! And as an artist myself, amazing that the tale fits onto this small box. Of course I wonder, what became of the little dog?

[@paulaclark9729]

The Duke adopted him and they lived happily ever after. The only problem was he kept bringing strange men home for him to sleep with, which his new wife didn't appreciate.

[@spiralpython1989]

@@paulaclark9729 tee hee hee! Laugh Out Loud!

[@paillette2010]

Ms Speakman: once again many thanks!!!! I was on Mediiev-l for years, read a lot about court, and the stories of knights (being a fan of heavy hunters), but this is just pure delight. Of course today everyone wants to know: what happened to the dog? 🤭

[@mistyroller3470]

Times change but humanity doesn't. We'll always love beautiful, clever, entertaining things.

[@SaikaLiao]

So much effort in one small item wow

[@annazaman9657]

Such gorgeous carving. What a skill the maker must have had

[@lindaj5492]

I really wish you’d talked about the ivory! What size of tusk would have been required for such large panels? How would ivory have been sourced in those times?

[@nigellee9824]

Yes, very good point....I wondered that.

[@盧璘壽로인수]

basically imported

[@klhaldane]

My guess wouldbe elephant tusks from across the Mediterranean, moved north through the hands of multiple merchants.

[@bteuben-faber8215]

See the first video about this subject! Love from Holland! 🌷

[@davidevans3227]

thankyou, i wondered about the ivory too, i'm going to check out the first video as suggested..

[@pufthemajicdragon]

That comic book feature at the end was really well done! It's a wonderful metaphor for the kind of storytelling on the casket itself, but it also brings the story to life in a modern aesthetic. Can we, uh, buy that comic? If you printed the actual comic, with additional "behind the scenes" section at the end with photos of the casket and details about its provenance and the origin of the story, I would love to have a copy!

[@VincentGroenewold]

It's lovely to know about stories from history, great stuff!

[@DannyRandomz]

Absolutely fantastic video! Very well explained and a really interesting story and the quality of the artistry is just amazing. Also really intriguing to see the fourth wall break which in contemporary cinematic storytelling is treated as something newfangled, like Deadpool's famous 4th wall breaks. Yet much like the millenia The Hero's Journey has been a touchstone of storytelling, breaking the 4th wall clearly goes much further back than realised. Not forgetting the leaning around the border is very similar to what Deadpool and Gwenpool do within their Marvel comics, when they reach beyond the panel or move between/in front of them. Edit: "It's like a medieval comic strip..." - This is why I should finish the whole video BEFORE posting a comment, whoops 😅 Nice touch with the comic and the superheroey music 🥲

[@jasperlawrence5361]

this channel is my "Find of the Month", thank you for another great video.

[@johnshoosmith]

Fantastic! You did a fantastic job highlighting with graphics throughout.

[@Linda_W.]

I really love these types of decorative boxes, and the way you present this one. Great job, Naomi!

[@InThisEssayIWill...]

How interesting! Very Romeo and Juliet esk... Though I suppose given the time frame it's more likely that Shakespeare modeled his story after this one!

[@b43xoit]

Both could have come from a common older thread.

[@sophelet]

@@b43xoit Ovid's tale of Pyramus and Thisbe is a much older version of the story we are familiar with through Romeo & Juliet. It is inserted in the theater scene in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet." Remember there is a character called "Wall"? He's the wall between the tragically separated lovers.

[@b43xoit]

@@sophelet Yes, I remember that Wall was a character. Play within the play.

[@tulliusexmisc2191]

@@sophelet Hamlet does have a play within a play, but it's not that one. Pyramus and Thisbe is the play within A Midsummer Night's Dream.

[@libbyhicks7549]

Safe bet.

[@Alefiend]

Do caskets like this follow a particular format? That is to say, does the story always start in the same panel position and flow predictably to the final panel?

[@composaboi]

No. There aren’t a whole lot of story telling caskets and I’m pretty sure none of them follow the same format. I may be wrong though

[@robertblankenship5000]

WOW! This is remarkable! And how wonderfully told by this amazing young lady. Bravo!

[@bettygreenhansen]

Wow!!! That was amazing…. A medieval comic strip!!! 🤣

[@cherry-vz5kx]

Fantastic narration Naomi.What a great but tragic story.

[@petergregory7199]

Good story. Loved the dancing. I suppose the point was the chatelaine was really virtuous, which is why her sense of shame was so strong that it killed her. Somehow I can’t see that happening today. And yet shame still a powerful weapon used on social media.

[@gwenwells2286]

Really fascinating how much information is one one little box. Love this.

[@aSpottedJoan]

This is terrific!! Thanks so much for sharing it.

[@moniqueengleman873]

What a beautiful box! All hand carved. Outstanding

[@yaa63]

Thank you soooooooooooooooooo much...beautifully explained!!

[@peterbathum2775]

Thank you for sharing your time with us here.

[@artemkras]

One of those nice little medieval stories where everyone dies

[@agerven]

Very nice, and surprisingly comic book-like. i really love the scene where the duke pops from one picture to another, and i wonder whether more of these tales are immortalized in similar ways. Very nice presentation, shedding a truly different light on medieval persons.

[@ARodLateKnight]

What a great story, on an astonishingly detailed piece of art.

[@nigelmansfield3011]

I know the romance of course. What a court the Burgundian one was. A beautiful exposee and description. Thank you.

[@lynnblack6493]

What a great job. Interpreting wonderful, ancient artifacts. Such stories...❤

[@chubbymoth5810]

Making an object come to life. Brilliant!

[@patytrico]

Beatiful piece and interesting story :) Thank you for share it with us!

[@christineanderson4755]

Beautiful carving. Brings to mind Romeo and Juliet. (Obviously I’m no genius.) 😂

[@rodeastell3615]

Excellent ... thank you for posting.

[@balaclavabob001]

I really enjoyed that . Thanks .

[@aq9714]

I love the stories of these caskets! The lesson is be kind or you may lose your head!

[@colinfew6570]

this series is fantastic!

[@jaewok5G]

secret lovers, mysterious death, discover and suicide by blade, wrongs avenged … that story seems familiar

[@TheSaneHatter]

That "breaking through panels" image is one that actually HAS been used in latter-day comic strips, like Will Eisner's "The Spirit" or even "Nancy."

[@windhorse4straveler647]

Amazing carving and wonderful story.

[@elizabeththequeen943]

Alas, a beautiful, bittersweet love story. I waited with bated breath for a happy ending..... and got one.

[@TheGrenadier97]

The Medieval Ages in Europe were such interesting and important but misunderstood times in History. I hope that with time the basic ordinary prejudices against it are forgotten to reveal ignored truths.

[@Lewisa369]

So beautiful the box and the story.

[@PopeLando]

It doesn't break the fourth wall, it breaks one of the existing three walls, specifically the one to the left. I kept looking for where one of the characters was, say, winking at us and looking directly out of the picture.

[@umwmusic1598]

incredible. Thank you!

[@susanne5803]

It's really like a 3D comic! Thank you very much!

[@gidi1899]

Gave me a chill, :) At the moment, I cant think of a better way to tell a story or even a better story, with a box. It's like a book that surpassed many written ones even now.

[@iseriver3982]

-great first and second act, what's going to happen in the finale? -everyone dies. -what, why?! -I dunno. Greeks thought it was OK.

[@piedwagtailrameau]

Amazing story telling!!

[@richardglady3009]

Playful casket? Wonderful video. Thank you for the in-depth analysis.

[@Edie45]

Like most fairy tales this is a macabre story. What a wonderful experience to work with such glorious artworks.

[@orsettomorbido]

What an amazing work of art!

[@pidginmac]

Quite wonderful and ancient yet new!

[@19CarlosGomez64]

I am still shocked! Seven hundred years ago somebody made this wonderful chest telling a story using today's comic or storyboarding criteria! AWESOME!

[@adrienneclarke3953]

Well presented. Thank you

[@MorodokClay]

This sculpture is really meaningful and luxurious, if your hand carves it.

[@melanietoth1376]

So wonderfully carved ♡

[@willdouglas1300]

Wow, thank you for reading this for us! Crazy!

[@5chr4pn3ll]

Yes! The sequel. This time it's personal.

[@QuestionsStuff]

Loved the comic strip ending lol :)

[@offgridcabinbelgium]

Filled with shame and dies? A bit to simpel for those boring 13th century nights without internet. So I changed it to; The wife of the duke, hoping he will at least wound the knight with his sward, poisons the edge of his sward. He leaves to talk to knight but they resolve the issue by letting him witness the affair. Who wouldn't?. The duke hasn't taken his sward with him so the Duchess sends it as a gift to the chatelaine, as if it was a present for the blessing of their love. She knows she just has to spread the roomers about her at the party now for her to use that sward. We're now a horse chase and canonshot away from a dramatic ending. When the duke finds the two lovers dead, he takes his own sward back to the party. chop chop.. On my next toilet visit I'll work on the dogs point of view.

[@williamjackson2008]

I want to thank you that was fantastic I do carping myself and I had no idea that stuff was done like that fantastic

[@jrpipik]

Comic books been around a lot longer than most people think.

[@nisaba5752]

Thank you!!!

[@54mgtf22]

Love your work 👍

[@SuperNovaSirius]

Beautiful and amazing.

[@tonyk1584]

Great stuff, I think I've seen this movie LOL