Love At First Sight
The classic ‘love at first sight’ is portrayed as the most romantic way to fall in love. Legend says eyes are the window to the soul and once two soulmates meet each other’s gaze, their love is undeniable.
In the 11th century, Troubadours performed a poem describing the process of love at first sight. They said it starts with a woman. She would see her future lover and make eye contact. The love she feels for this man is instant and powerful. As they keep eye contact, her eyes would emit love, sending beams of light into his eyes. The love would travel from his eyes to his heart. Therefore, they’d fall in love and live happily ever after.
Of course we can’t forget the most known explanation in folklore, Eros, the Greek god of love and sex. He has full control over who’ll fall in love or not. All beings can fall victim to his arrows. Immortal and morals alike. In fact, Zeus blames Eros for his lewd and disgraceful behavior against moral women.
In his quiver there are two different arrows, golden and lead. Gold arrows are ones of love. They have the power to make you fall in love instantly and entirely. Lead arrows on the other hand have the opposite effect. They have the power to make you hate any form of love. You avoid it at any cost.
Our Main Inspiration
Eros and his gift isn’t the only thing that inspired our artwork. It was also the forbidden love of Prince of Wales and Maria Fitzherbert.
George Augustus Frederick, at the time Prince of Wales, fell in love with Maria when they met at a high society event. Despite Maria’s circumstances being, she’s a commoner, twice-widowed, a Catholic, and six years older. George fell in love once he met her. He successfully wooed her and they began their relationship. And the way he proposed was by commissioning a miniaturist to paint only his eye. He placed it into a locket and sent it to Maria Anne Fitzherbert. She said yes. Although, they continued to keep their love secret.
Rumors quickly spread, when the Prince was seen wearing a miniature under his lapel. It is then where the scandalous miniature sparked a trend. People began to exchange eye miniatures with their lovers, especially secret lovers. The miniatures were specially crafted to be anonymous to others but intimate with lovers. They were commonly styled as accessories and jewelry, but they were also kept in boxes which then were surrounded by adornments and jewels.