It’s been an established trope from the very first Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto: portraits of the dead that can come to life and roam the halls. In Paulette Kennedy’s The Artist of Blackberry Grange, the home of an elderly painter living with dementia is haunted by her portraits of figures from her past. This historical Gothic, which came out last week, uses traditional tropes of the genre to explore themes of generational trauma, temptation, toxic relationships, regret, and overcoming all of these obstacles to find true love and contentment. Continue reading Review of The Artist of Blackberry Grange
Tag: Portrait
Gothic Tropes: Animate Portraits and Tapestries
The eyes of the portraits are watching you, seeming to follow you no matter where you go.… It’s such a classic scene in horror that we see this moment parodied in nearly every sitcom or children’s cartoon that has a haunted house episode. But where did this trope come from? To an extent, it’s inspired by an actual artistic phenomenon—an optical illusion called “ubiquitous gaze,” in which the artist’s use of perspective makes the subject appear to be looking at the viewer, no matter what angle the viewer approaches it from. In Gothic literature, however, a supernatural explanation is more likely. In fact, in several classic works, the portraits do quite a bit more than merely follow you with their eyes. Below are a few of my favorite examples of portraits and tapestries that come to life:
Continue reading Gothic Tropes: Animate Portraits and Tapestries