Heroines & Social Media

Students will learn about Queen Zenobia of Palmyra who led her soldiers to challenge the Roman Empire. Then, they will select another famous heroine from history and create a fictional Facebook profile for her as a form of biography. Lastly, they will compose tweets that she would have posted had social media been available in her day.

A woman wearing a breastplate and helmet over a toga stands to our left on a platform, gesturing with one arm extended to a group of about a dozen soldiers gathered around her in this horizontal painting. The woman has pale white skin and most of the soldiers have ruddy complexions. The woman stands with her body facing us but she turns her head to our right, looking toward but not at the knot of soldiers clustered there. She leans on her right elbow, on our left, resting on the flat top of a broken column, and she holds a scepter in that hand. Her other arm is raised and her fingers are extended except for the index finger and thumb, which touch to make a circle. Her gold helmet is encrusted with gems and a white plume issues from the top. Her red and gold cloak is fastened around her neck and falls open to reveal her armor and sandal-clad feet. A shield rests on the platform near her feet, and other pieces of armor are scattered on the dirt ground near the platform. A young boy with chestnut-brown curls holds her cloak behind her and to our right. In the lower left corner of the painting, one soldier sits on the edge of the platform, and he twists and looks up at the woman. Several soldiers standing in a group to our right carry shields, banners, and halberds, which are tall, ax-like weapons. The men wear helmets and breastplates, and cloaks in canary yellow, crimson red, and ivory white. The man closest to us stands with his back to us, and he looks over his shoulder at the woman. An animal skin wraps around his shoulders and the head of the animal drapes over his head. More soldiers and tents in the middle distance are painted in almost monochromatic tones of peanut brown and taupe. The sky above is blue with a few white clouds, except for a band of soft yellow along the horizon. — Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Queen Zenobia Addressing Her Soldiers, 1725/1730, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.42

Materials

Computers with internet access for student research
Drawing and writing materials
Copies of the “Facebook" template
Printer for profile photos
Scissors and glue

Warm-Up Questions

What clues does Tiepolo give you in this painting that Zenobia is not an ordinary woman? (She stands on a platform, a servant keeps her robes from touching the ground, she carries a royal scepter.) What is Zenobia doing in this scene? How do the soldiers behave toward her?

Background

Zenobia was queen of Palmyra, in Syria, in the third century A.D. Palmyra was a caravan oasis that had developed into a major economic metropolis of the Near East. After her husband Odenathus was assassinated in A.D. 267, Zenobia assumed power and ruled as regent for her infant son Vaballathus. A shrewd diplomat and military strategist, she challenged the authority of the Roman Empire in the east. She led her troops—an unusual role for a woman in antiquity—to victories in Egypt and Asia Minor. Although Roman power reasserted itself within a few years, her actions changed the empire’s eastern frontier, and she was celebrated for courage and daring.

The military subject of the painting corresponds well with the story of Zenobia, whose exploits in five short years threatened Roman power. The setting is a barren desert, suitable for her homeland in Syria. Her encircling thumb and forefinger have been interpreted as a symbol of unity; before doing battle, Zenobia stands on a dais, which is like a stage or platform, so she can exhort her troops to band together. Her armor shows that she was a brave fighter. Her servant keeps her robes from touching the ground. The staff, or scepter, she carries indicates she is queen.

Tiepolo was one of the most popular Venetian painters of the mid-eighteenth century. His commissions took him to Germany and Spain as well as throughout northeastern Italy. His fame rested on his decorations for princely residences—vast murals and ceiling frescoes—incorporating the best-known episodes from ancient literature. This is one of four large-scale paintings completed for the Zenobio Palace in Venice. Because of the similarity in name, the Zenobio family may have boasted of ancestral connections to Queen Zenobia.

Guided Practice

How did Tiepolo make Zenobia the most important figure in the painting? (She stands on a platform and is higher than the other figures, she is separated from the group, she makes a big gesture with her body.)
After hearing the story of Queen Zenobia and gathering evidence in the painting, what adjectives could you use to describe her character? Why is she a heroine?
Take a look at the setting of the painting. As far as we know, Tiepolo never visited Syria, where Zenobia was queen, but he wanted to make the setting look exotic. How did he do it in terms of costumes and props? How would you describe the climate of Syria by the way Tiepolo painted it? Is it green and lush? Tropical? Dry and desert like?

Activity

Students will select one woman from history that they wish to make a fictional Facebook profile as a form of biography. Some suggested places to get started:

Next, students will fill in the “Facebook" template for their heroine, complete with her career, education, family, likes, and timeline with status updates. Students will also draw two images of their heroine at the top of the template—a cover image and a profile image. They also should create a photo album on the second page of the template by printing and pasting images from the internet.

Extension

Students will then write ten tweets as their heroine, commenting on topics and current events that would be relevant or important to her. Remind them to write in first person and present tense as if she were tweeting today.

National Core Arts Standards

VA:Re7.1.6 Identify and interpret works of art or design that reveal how people live around the world and what they value.

VA:Re7.2.6 Analyze ways that visual components and cultural associations suggested by images influence ideas, emotions, and actions.

VA:Re8.1.6 Interpret art by distinguishing between relevant and non-relevant contextual information and analyzing subject matter, characteristics of form and structure, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.