Re: Andalucian costume and henna
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on October 17, 2000 at 21:21:15:
In Reply to: Andalucian costume and henna posted by Kenzi on October 17, 2000 at 19:52:51:
When you see larger prints of these paintings, you can tell that this
is VERY intricately patterned henna, and done with the ammonia or heat
trick to push it to black. I think there is calligraphy across the
knuckles .... and there is written evidence to support that. There
are a great number of paintings from the 12 to 16th centuries that
clearly show that the Islamic world, (from Spain to Persia) during the
medieval period, had henna that was absolutely as complex and
magnificent as it is in India now ... and there is quite a bit of
convincing evidence that the henna was a more evolved art form then,
involving calligraphy, poetry, political intrigue, performance art
....... the more I find out about it the more I'm stunned at the
magnificence of a women's art that was lost!
