hidden history trail

So I went to see the Disability through art history at the Portrait gallery in Edinburgh and thought it was great! they involve pieces that portray disability though art or have been created by an artist with a disability. this ranged from asthma to loss of limbs. it was really interesting and inspiring to se so much in some pieces I would walk past without a second thought. it showed me I need to ask more questions about art- why something has been painted in this way or the story behind the artist. we got a guided tour of the the pieces and then were involved in a group discussion about the work we had bee shown. my favourite was Sarah Biffin and this was the painting we saw, its a self portrait done in watercolour

Biffin was born in 1784 and was born without hands or feet and taught herself to paint write and sew using her mouth. this is a tiny little painting only maybe 3 inches long. to over come such obstacles and still paint with such accuracy is amazing. During the group discussion i was introduced to John Everett Millais' painting "The Blind Girl" (1856) which many o the group were shocked i had not seen before.

two girls sit in the foreground of a field with a dark sky and a double rainbow. the girl with her eyes closed is blind and the tag around her neck says "pity the blind". she is begging playing the accordion on her lap for money. but the little girl on her lap is looking back towards the double rainbow. I was told some believe it was Millais intention for the double rainbow to represent hope. I was more drawn to the empty blank look on the blind girls face. no sign of emotion at all. I found this interesting as i wonder if Millaise intention was to say this is how she must feel without sight. I really enjoyed the discussion as we touched upon other artists such as Goya Arbus and even Korda

(who i didn't know who this was until i was shown his very famous photo of Che Guevara - why didn't I know who took that photography?!) all in all it was a great visit to the portrait gallery and it was free! incredible!