En drottning i många skepnader : Framställningen av drottningen av Saba i rollen som den "andre"

Sammanfattning

The aim of this essay is to examine how the biblical Queen of Sheba has been depicted in a selection of artworks. The main focus is on how her otherness has been visualized, in relation to King Solomon in particular but also to the Western, European, christian and white self-image at large. The material that has been analyzed comprises the following artworks: Solomon and the Queen of Sheba by Nicholas of Verdun (1181), Procession of the Queen of Sheba; Meeting between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon by Piero della Francesca (ca 1452-1466), The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Lavinia Fontana (1599) and The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Edward Poynter (1890). In examining the artworks Erwin Panofsky's three- step analysis model has been applied in combination with a theoretical framework consisting of postcolonial studies and critical white theories. The results show that the Queen of Sheba has been depicted in a variety of ways. In the artwork by Nicholas of Verdun, the Queen is black, carrying the symbolic notion of sin; in Piero and Fontanas artworks she is depicted as white. In Piero's depiction, only small signals, such as clothes, marks her status as “the other”, in Fontanas case, her signs of otherness seem in contrast completely absent. Poynters artwork contains a spectacular display of exotic elements and the Queen has been given a sensual appearance in line with the image of the erotic Orient. One conclusion that the author reaches is that, as Edward Said has argued, in attempting to represent “the other” the Occident documents itself. This is also similar to how the dichotomy between black and white is constructed and how whiteness in relation to black individuals in these pictures gathers its strength and is, rather than being neutral, imbued with meaning.