"BEOWULF", AN OLD ENGLISH HEROIC EPIC POEM
©2013 ANNA+ELENA=BALBUSSO ILLUSTRATIONS www.balbusso.com
We are very honored that the whole series of 5 images of our book "Beowulf" for Black Cat (De Agostini Group) has been accepted in ILLUSTRATORS 56, exhibition and book 2014, Society of Illustrators NYC.
Our latest picture book "Beowulf" retold by Robert Hill, has been published by Black Cat and now it's on sale online blackcat-cideb.com. We made the cover and 13 full-page color illustrations. You can view a selection directly in our gallery painterly: www.balbusso.com. Beowulf is the title of an Old English heroic epic poem set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. The events described in the poem take place in the late 5th century, after the Anglo-Saxons had begun their migration to England, and before the beginning of the 7th century, a the time when the Anglo-Saxon people were either newly arrived or still in close contact with their Germanic kinsmen in Scandinavia and Northern Germany.The majority view appears to be that people such as King Hroðgar and the Scyldings in Beowulf are based on real historical people from 6th-century Scandinavia.
About the story: In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial mound, in Geatland.
About the project:
After an historical and iconographic research we have designed the monsters. Our major reference was the work of Ulysses Aldrovandi entitled "Monstrorum historia cum Paralipomenis historiae omnium animalium" (Bologna, 1642). Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, he is considered the founder of modern Natural History. Along with the collection of specimens coming from all over the world, which were one of the first wunderkammer, Aldovrandi used to collect also drawings of animals hard to find or to preserve. Thanks to artists and painters like Agostino Carracci, Teodoro Ghisi, Jacopo Ligozzi, he created a huge archive made up of 8000 sheets, from which 3000 planks are still preserved today in the University Library of Bologna.
After an historical and iconographic research we have designed the monsters. Our major reference was the work of Ulysses Aldrovandi entitled "Monstrorum historia cum Paralipomenis historiae omnium animalium" (Bologna, 1642). Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, he is considered the founder of modern Natural History. Along with the collection of specimens coming from all over the world, which were one of the first wunderkammer, Aldovrandi used to collect also drawings of animals hard to find or to preserve. Thanks to artists and painters like Agostino Carracci, Teodoro Ghisi, Jacopo Ligozzi, he created a huge archive made up of 8000 sheets, from which 3000 planks are still preserved today in the University Library of Bologna.
Please see the gallery on www.balbusso.com
