Notes on the H/S Renaissance AU
20 Apr 2015 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whatevermortalI got a bit excited about that oil painting filter thing that I used for that last post, so uh have some notes/a timeline and a bit more of artist!Scipio's masterpieces? For a given definition of masterpieces, since I'm mostly taking screencaps from Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare (which is a v interesting docudrama FYI) and manipulating them a lil.
I've been thinking a lot about this AU for the last few days, trying to figure out how exactly it would all work. My research into Renaissance artists tells me the age to begin an apprenticeship is around 10-12 (it's unusual, but not unheard of for it to begin earlier). Depending on the city, the length of apprenticeships is generally 2-3 years and they work up from menial duties & sketching to helping with backgrounds/minor figures in their masters' paintings & painting their own works. Once they complete the apprenticeship, they become a journeyman, who I gathered kinda just wanders around looking for inspiration to paint a masterpiece, which they would then submit to a board of some sort that decided whether they were good enough to be a master (& therefore get to have their own workshop).
So, from that, I decided that Scipio was 10 when he became apprenticed to Hannibal and was so talented that he graduated to assisting with painting very quickly (but nevertheless stayed as an apprentice for an extra two years because he wanted to learn everything he possibly could). He became a journeyman when he was 15 or 16, headed off and began his first masterpiece (which was brilliant, obvs, but is ~lost to time).
His next masterpiece is Sunrise at Le Vene del Tevere, 1551. My Italian is so shitty, but I think the original name would be something like Alba a Vene del Tevere. I am very likely wrong though. I might change the name anyway when I get a chance to look properly at the Italian landscape around Rome and find out whether that place actually existed yet in the 16th Century & if so, whether it was actually called that yet.
His next known painting would be a self-portrait. (Just imagine this is a crop of the full thing...) He was 26 in 1556 when he painted it. Which, speaking of his age, I've worked out both Scipio and Hannibal's ages by choosing the year of their death (1583, to correspond with 283BC for no real reason except that it pleased me) and working backwards. So while Scipio was born in 1530 in this universe, Hannibal was born in 1519.
Self-portrait, 1556 (source)
In the intervening years, though, Scipio would have returned to Rome (in 1548 or early 1549) and reconnected with Hannibal. Hannibal loses his eye to infection in mid to late 1549 (at the same age as in reality).
(This isn't really relevant to the AU itself, but I kind of imagine that the time period between 1548-1560 is the most contentious in terms of who painted what. Basically all of Scipio and Hannibal's paintings from this period were attributed to Scipio, and even once it was realised that some of them were Hannibal's, there was (and continues to be!) a lot of argument for/against one of them painting a certain masterpiece and that there are a bunch of paintings that everyone's just given up on knowing whose it is.)
Two years after the self-portrait is the first Barca portrait. And just. Imagine he's missing an eye, I guess.
Hannibal Barca, 1558 (source)
Scipio would've done a lot of commissions, but I've gotten really attached to the idea of him at some point coming across the Punic Wars and finding inspiration in imaging himself and Hannibal in those roles (since, obvs in this verse, those people aren't H & S). Maybe this is something a lot of present day art historians don't know though! They don't realise that Scipio's been sneaking Hannibal into his art for years on either side of his Barca portraits. Not until his sketchbooks are found & authenticated, and they find the evidence of it in his drawings and notes.
Before the Battle at Zama, date unknown
Death Before Capture, 1567
(Both of the above manips are from screencaps of the doco I linked up top, fyi.)
I also really want to try my hand at a few of Scipio's sketches, but the best I can do with Photoshop alone just doesn't fit at all in the Renaissance style of drawing. I've been image searching a bit though and, idk, maybe I can try to mimick the style well enough to do up some rough sketches...especially considering I just found a sketch that's almost perfect.
I've been thinking a lot about this AU for the last few days, trying to figure out how exactly it would all work. My research into Renaissance artists tells me the age to begin an apprenticeship is around 10-12 (it's unusual, but not unheard of for it to begin earlier). Depending on the city, the length of apprenticeships is generally 2-3 years and they work up from menial duties & sketching to helping with backgrounds/minor figures in their masters' paintings & painting their own works. Once they complete the apprenticeship, they become a journeyman, who I gathered kinda just wanders around looking for inspiration to paint a masterpiece, which they would then submit to a board of some sort that decided whether they were good enough to be a master (& therefore get to have their own workshop).
So, from that, I decided that Scipio was 10 when he became apprenticed to Hannibal and was so talented that he graduated to assisting with painting very quickly (but nevertheless stayed as an apprentice for an extra two years because he wanted to learn everything he possibly could). He became a journeyman when he was 15 or 16, headed off and began his first masterpiece (which was brilliant, obvs, but is ~lost to time).
His next masterpiece is Sunrise at Le Vene del Tevere, 1551. My Italian is so shitty, but I think the original name would be something like Alba a Vene del Tevere. I am very likely wrong though. I might change the name anyway when I get a chance to look properly at the Italian landscape around Rome and find out whether that place actually existed yet in the 16th Century & if so, whether it was actually called that yet.
His next known painting would be a self-portrait. (Just imagine this is a crop of the full thing...) He was 26 in 1556 when he painted it. Which, speaking of his age, I've worked out both Scipio and Hannibal's ages by choosing the year of their death (1583, to correspond with 283BC for no real reason except that it pleased me) and working backwards. So while Scipio was born in 1530 in this universe, Hannibal was born in 1519.
Self-portrait, 1556 (source)
In the intervening years, though, Scipio would have returned to Rome (in 1548 or early 1549) and reconnected with Hannibal. Hannibal loses his eye to infection in mid to late 1549 (at the same age as in reality).
(This isn't really relevant to the AU itself, but I kind of imagine that the time period between 1548-1560 is the most contentious in terms of who painted what. Basically all of Scipio and Hannibal's paintings from this period were attributed to Scipio, and even once it was realised that some of them were Hannibal's, there was (and continues to be!) a lot of argument for/against one of them painting a certain masterpiece and that there are a bunch of paintings that everyone's just given up on knowing whose it is.)
Two years after the self-portrait is the first Barca portrait. And just. Imagine he's missing an eye, I guess.
Hannibal Barca, 1558 (source)
Scipio would've done a lot of commissions, but I've gotten really attached to the idea of him at some point coming across the Punic Wars and finding inspiration in imaging himself and Hannibal in those roles (since, obvs in this verse, those people aren't H & S). Maybe this is something a lot of present day art historians don't know though! They don't realise that Scipio's been sneaking Hannibal into his art for years on either side of his Barca portraits. Not until his sketchbooks are found & authenticated, and they find the evidence of it in his drawings and notes.
Before the Battle at Zama, date unknown
Death Before Capture, 1567
(Both of the above manips are from screencaps of the doco I linked up top, fyi.)
I also really want to try my hand at a few of Scipio's sketches, but the best I can do with Photoshop alone just doesn't fit at all in the Renaissance style of drawing. I've been image searching a bit though and, idk, maybe I can try to mimick the style well enough to do up some rough sketches...especially considering I just found a sketch that's almost perfect.
no subject
Date: 21 Apr 2015 09:07 pm (UTC)The paintings look great and I'm really loving the timeline you've got so far and the idea of Scipio sneaking Hannibal in his paintings. Ngl, I'm headcanoning that a lot of those paintings that have an uncertain provenance were painted by the both of them.
(and omg them finding parallels with the Second Punic War. Maybe because the names are the same? They're both names that have been used in Italy at the time, if rarely.)
no subject
Date: 22 Apr 2015 06:10 am (UTC)Thanks! OMG yessss, I was headcanoning that they use each other's supplies & workshops all the time, but them painting things together as well is precious as fuck. Headcanon accepted.
(That's a good idea actually. And it wouldn't need to be the full names obviously, but either Hannibal X or X Barca and something similar for Scipio so that Scipio just immediately draws that comparison
and starts headcanoning that he and Hannibal are soulmates who've ~been reborn~ lmao. I love that.no subject
Date: 25 Apr 2015 10:35 pm (UTC)YESSSSSSSSSS EXCELLENT.
OF COURSE HE DOES. He's such a dork, seriously.no subject
Date: 26 Apr 2015 01:06 pm (UTC)I'm also headcanoning that they each have a really sneaky marker that they slip into the background of the paintings they work on together. So if it's predominantly Scipio's work but Hannibal helped, Hannibal would slip a little symbol somewhere in the background (and the same happens vice versa). The art world knows about the symbols, but they have no idea wtf they mean. ALL THOSE POOR ART HISTORIANS LMAO
SUCH a dork! Hannibal thinks it's ridiculous, but he goes along with it for lols.no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2015 12:12 am (UTC)YES THAT IS PERFECT (they are so adorable <3) Ngl, I kind of want to read all about the cofnsued art historians, including the one who figures it out.
YES (I'm sorry i seem to be unable to communicate with you beyond base flailing at this point.)no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2015 12:33 pm (UTC)lmao yeah I'm starting to get invested in the future art world of this AU too, I'm imagining all the shitfits and snide articles and barely restrained vitriol of all these historians trying to prove the legitimacy of their opinions
and disprove the legitimacy of everyone else'sand it's so great.No no it's fine haha, base flailing is pretty much my SOP in fandom.no subject
Date: 1 May 2015 12:30 am (UTC)(I'm actually working on a SIMON WOODS pencil portrait at the studio currently, and so far all I can say is HOLY SHIT SHADOWS ARE VERY USEFUL. Too bad I kind of suck at shading, hence this project so I can get better at both shading and realistic faces.)
You should totally write about the historians having vicious fights through academic papers.
no subject
Date: 3 May 2015 02:42 pm (UTC)(Ooooh, good luck (I keep going to call you nonny & then remembering we're in namespace haha) & I'd love to see the final product!)
Yessss, I think I might give it a shot. I'm imagining doing, like, a series of emails between two scholars on opposing sides, with snide little asides and things, but we'll see! :P Once I've finished this
56 Things fic, which I've finally got time to work on again!no subject
Date: 3 May 2015 08:23 pm (UTC)(I almost called someone Nonny in real life a few days ago, lmao, so I feel you. Yeah, I'll post the finished product somewhere if it's not too terrible.)
And then they bang.I really look forward to the series of emails between the two, omg. OMG SIX? YOU SPOIL ME I LOVE YOUno subject
Date: 6 May 2015 01:43 am (UTC)(lmao yeah I'm sure I'll end up doing that at some point! It's so cute, like a term of endearment.)
Hell yeah! ;DAWW <3 I'm scared it'll just keep growing but yes, 6 for now lol. I had another idea for a scene and I couldn't NOT give it a try. I'd guess I'm about halfway through now. You want another snippet? Have another snippet! This is from the 2nd scene, when Hannibal loses his eye:Scipio falls into the habit of passing time with sketches of Hannibal’s sleeping face. It creates an illusion of distance that he cannot help falling victim to—it is much simpler a thing to examine a form to be translated into pen and ink than to see truly a cloth bandaged over the empty space where Hannibal’s eye should be.
The physician had not been able to say what impact infection might have on the ability to draw or paint or sculpt, or whether Hannibal would wake up himself at all. Scipio has seen men come back from illness much changed; he has heard of men who may well have never come back at all for how little memory they have of their friends, their families, themselves.
For this reason, Scipio dreads Hannibal’s awakening with almost the fervour he anticipates it. As the days pass, he draws as much from his own reminiscences of Hannibal as he does the man before him. His sketchbook, already a steady flow, brims over with Hannibal’s smile, his figure, his teasing, lively eyes, his soft curls and his ever-present scruff.
:D
no subject
Date: 8 May 2015 12:11 am (UTC)(You can always say it's a Shakespeare thing, if they ask. I can't.)
YES I DO TOTALLY WANT ANOTHER SNIPPET
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, this is excellent! I love it so! Scipio's fear and hope really shine through.
Edit: does that mean I owe you a snippet?
no subject
Date: 9 May 2015 12:34 pm (UTC)(Aha! I'll keep that excuse in the wings. :P)
♥! I'm so glad you like it! :D
And I saw your snippet on meme!! (iirc I was the 2nd commenter.) I am SO excited for your fic and every piece you add makes it even more intriguing! I love Hannibal and Scipio's interactions--all these conflicting emotions, all this distrust and affection mingling together.
no subject
Date: 10 May 2015 09:46 pm (UTC)Thank you! (I'd wondered if one of them was you.) The conflicting emotions are easily my favourite bit, ngl.