Poise & Theodora
Women as Political Power
Danielle Renée Boone
Danielle Renée Boone
Poise
porcelain, 2019
Positive Change, personal and political
Poise appears on one side of the rail, but her posture indicates she would be just as comfortable on the other side, or anywhere. Theodora was a mere human, however her power and history rival that of lore, and demonstrate that it isn’t so much where we have been, but who we can become.
Theodora infiltrated the class-dominated hierarchy—assisted by Justinian, who would be crowned Emperor two years after laws were changed so they could marry in 527 A.D. Her words spurred him to action, subsequently saving the empire that would create a successful, more equitable, and architecturally significant Constantinople by making her voice heard.
Advancing from humble beginnings working at the Hippodrome (circus) as the daughter of a bear keeper, Theodora rose from a mime, actress and later, a wool spinner to become the Empress of Byzantium. She championed human rights of marginalized groups (whether former prostitutes or the Miaphysite leaders who were a religious minority amid the majority Orthodox Christians, the latter the faith of her husband), and extensively expanded women’s rights.
As the form of Poise is light, Theodora brought light to others. With strong and empathetic intelligence, beautiful, eloquent and witty Theodora astutely ruled alongside her husband to ban the trafficking of girls and forced prostitution, established the death penalty for rape, and enacted laws advancing women’s rights in divorce cases and property ownership and inheritance. (1)
“Theodora spoke up and gave a moving speech about the greater significance of the life of someone who died as a ruler, over that of someone who lived but was nothing.” (2) The rousing speech influenced her husband and his officials to quash a rebellion intent on overthrowing the Emperor. Theodora and Justinian would improve Constantinople into an architectural wonder of aqueducts, bridges, the Hagia Sophia and more than two dozen other churches.
It takes great courage and confidence to stand up for what we believe in, especially when the tide of public opinion threatens our very being, as it did with Theodora’s initial profession as an actress and her history of Miaphysite religion. With resolute poise, Theodora proved great leaders are made, not born—and that experience, enlightenment, aspiration and truth in conviction can powerfully change the world.
1. www.britannica.com/biography/Theodora-Byzantine-empress-died-548.
About the Artist
Danielle Renée Boone first captured Pegasus as a young child armed with her mother’s love of lore and her father’s sage advice that saved the beast’s rear leg from being hobbled. That first lasso of the winged horse—on a canvas board for a third grade school project—makes Greek Women: Then and Now not only historically significant, but relevant to the artist’s journey from that elementary painting forward.
Gaia and Demeter might approve of the artist’s photography exhibited at New Jersey’s Essex County Environmental Center and at the Annual Skylands Scenic Beauty Competition, where Boone’s landscape Glory Be won an award in 2012.
She explores equine and human écorché, a technique where the underlying skeletal structure and muscular anatomy are investigated and modeled, and has studied with internationally renown sculptors David Klass, Ivan Bratko, and José Anico.
After painting with socially conscious master realist Max Ginsburg at the Art Students League of New York in 2013 and 2017, Boone counts his signed exhibition catalog as one of her greatest treasures.
Boone earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University—serendipitously home to the ‘Spartans’—and champions the Greek Women: Then and Now International Art Festival and Exhibition focus on social, cultural and identity experiences and awareness. As a writer and editor, Boone contributed supplementary exhibition and public information content for The Changing Face of Women’s Health and Psychology: It’s More Than You Think! exhibitions in New York City as well as assisting a nonprofit organization highlighted by the Biden Cancer Initiative in 2018.
Boone has also conjured Artemis and a satyr a few times—at her children’s behest for Halloween masquerade costumes—and would like to thank nature and the nurture of parents, family, friends, and colossal pets for their continued encouragement and spirit of muse.