Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Wednesday Wyeth


For the Wednesday Wyeth, I usually just post a quick comment on what the picture says to me, but for this illustration, there's something very specific about it that I like: the man in the red coat is clearly peforming a parry in sixte.

Verisimilitude - "having the appearance of truth" - is something for which many gamers, particularly those with a world-building bent, strive. Verisimilitude is why I spend an hour researching the Imperial campaigns in 1620 as backstory for a fictional non-player character in my campaign. Verisimilitude is why I emailed a professor at Harvard University to get the correct translation from Occitan of a place shown on a 16th century map of Marseille.

Mr Wyeth went to the trouble to get the swordplay right for the picture. It's a masterful illustration without knowing that, of course, but, for me, it's even more impressive seeing the parry in sixte.

13 comments:

  1. Just out of curiosity, what was the Occitan? I have a background in French and Spanish, and some basic Latin, so I can usually translate simple stuff in Italian or Occitan.

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    1. I have high school French and the Spanish one picks up living in southern California, and I can usually puzzle out a bit of Italian and Occitan as well.

      The Occitan phrase is in Dr Small's book on the medieval cartography on Marseille - I'll have to hunt for the phrase later. In French it's la pierre que raie - rayed stone.

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    2. Ah, found the email. The Occitan is peyra que raja, which Dr Small called "roiling stone."

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  2. Wyeth's work is simply beautiful stuff. What great inspiration!

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  3. I know where you're coming from; my interest in the middle ages was initially spurred by D&D. From elementary school I started to delve into real research because I wanted my games to be more accurate... and now I have an MA in medieval studies. How the worm turns, eh?

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    1. My gaming never led me to pursue anything professionally, but I've certainly learned an upper division history course's worth of knowledge on the early 17th century.

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  4. My love of versimilitude is why I constantly struggle not to write and post a detailed description of textile manufacturing and its impact on clothing styles in the Dawnlands.

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    1. A love of verisimilitude is best coupled with a strong self-editor.

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  5. Black Vulmea, just started following your blog. This is great series. Where is today's Wyeth from?

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    1. Catriona, the sequel to Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

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  6. Ah, thanks. I did not even know there was a sequel!

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    1. You'll also find it listed under the title [i]David Balfour[/i].

      I'm glad you're enjoying the pics, and thanks for following the blog. Hopefully I'll keep giving you reasons to come back.

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