My entry for Zeldyn-stock's Beauty Through The Ages Competition [link]


I thought i'd depict the beauty of literature through the ages because, unlike human beauty, a good written story last forever through the generations. A good example is the famous story of Cinderella, the earliest recorded version of the tale comes from China. It was written down by Tuan Ch'eng-shih in the middle of the ninth century A.D. The heroine of the Chinese tale is Yeh-shen. There is no fairy godmother in this earliest known version. A magical fish is Yeh-shen's helper instead. However, a golden shoe is used to identify Yeh-shen to the prince who wants to marry her.

Although a reference to the story exists in 16th century German literature, the next written version of the story comes from Charles Perrault in his Contes de ma Mere L'Oye in 1697. From this version, we received the fairy godmother, the pumpkin carriage, the animal servants, and the glass slippers. Perrault recorded the story that was told to him by storytellers while adding these touches for literary effect.

The Grimm Brothers' German version, known as Aschenputtel, or Ash Girl, does not have a fairy godmother. The heroine plants a tree on her mother's grave from which all of the magical help appears in the form of a white dove and gifts. At the end, the stepsisters' eyes are pecked by birds from the tree to punish them for their cruelty.

Though some details vary, the main story is always the same. Which current child doesn't know the story of Cinderella this very day? Very few probably. That's why i chose to depict the beauty of literature



Model - [link]

Brushes - [link] [link] [link]

Book and butterfly - [link]