Fine Art Fables: Snow White

The original Snow White fairytale was published by Brothers Grimm in 1812 in the first edition of Grimms’ Fairy Tales by it’s german title, Schneewittchen. (Be sure not to confuse it with another one of their other tales, Snow White and Rose Red!)

Unlike the Walt Disney retelling of this fairytale, Snow White is a little bit harder to kill in this much older version. In the Brothers Grimm publication, the Evil Queen attempts to murder Snow White four individual times. The first was by hiring the huntsman, in which he is unable to follow through due to Snow White’s beauty. The other three times are quite repetitive, where the evil queen disguises herself and tries to sell the child different things.  The second time, she sells corset laces, then ties them too tight in the hopes Snow White suffocates. The third, she uses a poisoned comb, which the logistics of are questionable at best. Lastly, and most famously, she feeds Snow White the poisoned apple. 

Many scholars have discussed the possible origins of this fairytale, as it was most likely part of oral storytelling long before it was published in writing by Brothers Grimm. A German Historian, Eckhard Sander, claims Snow White may be based upon the life of Margaretha von Waldeck, a German countess born in 1533. Margaretha was sent away to Brussels by her step mother, however while she was there she fell in love with a prince. Her parents did not approve of this relationship, and Margaretha mysteriously died at 21. Her death was ruled as poisoning. Another historian argues that Snow White is based upon a completely different German baroness in the eighteenth century who fled into the woods to escape her stepmother. 

Even older than 1533, the Roman legend of Chione shares similarities with Snow White as well. Most obviously, the name of the protagonist, Chione, translates to Snow. Chione was described as being one of the most beautiful women in the world, causing gods (Apollo and Hermes) to fall in love with her.  

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The Illustration I created still focuses on the infamous way the Evil Queen attempted to murder Snow White. Given the real stories I found that are similar to Snow White, I included more accurate representations of the clothing nobility would have worn in Germany in the 1500s. The website I used for reference can be found here.