The Godfrey Audio Guide- Part 1: The Corkscrew
Description: The world-famous audio guide for the Annabelle H. Godfrey Historic Estate and Museum. Please do not touch the art. This is for your own safety.
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Transcript
The Godfrey Audio Guide, Episode 1: Gods & Greenery
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello and welcome to the Annabelle H. Godfrey Historic Estate and Museum. Thank you for joining us on The Godfrey’s world-famous audio guide. I’ll be your host for the duration of your time here at the Estate, and look forward to enlightening you as to the history and unique beauty of Annabelle’s eclectic collection of art, antiquities, and curiosities. But before we begin, I must go over a few notices and Estate rules.
Firstly – on the chance that you failed to read the fine print when checking out this audio guide, and are currently standing in the middle of our atrium, waiting for a staff member to come and collect you – this is a self-guided tour. Each audio guide is equipped with a GPS tracking device, which triggers the commentary for the nearest collection item. This provides the dual benefit of a custom experience for you, and helping The Godfrey staff locate unreturned audio guides. Many lost guides are discovered abandoned in dark and seldom-traversed corners of the Estate, their patrons nowhere to be found.
Which leads me to my second point of business: Stay out of the shadows.
Thirdly, breaks in commentary as you move between collection items may be filled with historical tidbits about the Estate, details about current or upcoming exhibits and offerings, general announcements, or words from our Sponsor. Do not be alarmed when these start playing. And no, you cannot mute or skip them.
Fourthly, and this should go without saying: do not touch any collection items. This is for your own safety.
That’s all for now! Shall we begin? I think you’ve spent enough time staring at the atrium, don’t you? Yes, it is quite lovely. But I don’t think that’s what you came here for. And don’t worry, I don’t think anyone else has noticed.
***
The Abduction of Europa (1716)
Jean-François de Troy
Oil on canvas
Annabelle Hepzibah Godrey fostered a life-long love of and fascination with classical mythology, and this painting is among the first she ever acquired for what has become one of the crowning and definitive permanent collections here at the Estate. It’s easy to see what first drew Annabelle’s attention; the contrast between the darkness of the forested shore and the vibrant blues of sky and sea is striking. And that is only at first glance. Perhaps it, too, drew you in, as it did Annabelle so many years ago. But what holds you – what held Annabelle – is the drama unfolding at the center of the image.
De Troy’s interpretation of this classic tale is truly remarkable. He paints Europa, clad in garments of palest gold and pink, in her vicious and bitter struggle against The Bull, who those with a passing knowledge of the Greeks will know is actually Zeus in disguise. If you are unfamiliar with the tale, Zeus – who fixated upon Europa, a Phoenician princess – disguised himself in the form of a white bull to get close to the unsuspecting object of his lust, and, when the opportunity presented itself, to steal her away.
Greek mythology is filled with similar accounts. Zeus always thought that lies and trickery would deceive his targets, yet we see here, with Europa as in other tales, how very mistaken he was. Though less physically imposing here than is de Troy’s depiction of Zeus as The Bull, the painter masterfully renders Europa’s fortitude and fierce determination in the set of her brow, in the expression in her eyes, in the hard lines of her face as she considers her adversary. She is bare-chested as she stares down her foe – a common means of dress for warrior women, as it allowed them full range of motion; the better to wield the battle axes, broadswords, or daggers as were usually carried by women of the time. De Troy takes some creative license here and equips Europa with a single hatchet – perhaps to better illustrate the surprise nature of the attack, as Europa – unprepared for an assault of this kind – has left her heavier martial weapons at home. Surrounding Europa and her bovine adversary are her fellow warrior women, ready to provide assistance should their princess call for it.
One wonders why Jean-François de Troy titled this work The Abduction of Europa, for Zeus failed in his attempt to steal her from her home and to force her into unspeakable acts. Europa won that fight (the continent of Europe is named after her in celebration of that fact), and she sent the bruised and bleeding bull running back across the sea from which he had come, with no one but his lowly cherubin servant to tend to his many and well-deserved wounds. Perhaps The Failed Abduction of Europa or The Bull’s Defeat didn’t have quite the ring that he was going for.
But oddly named or not, de Troy’s work here is a stunning rendition of this famous and inspiring tale.
***
Looking for ways to bring the memories of your time here home with you? Have you always wanted to showcase world-class artwork in your own home?
Well that’s too bad, because you can’t have ours. But what you can have are copies of those famous pieces of art, printed on any and every surface imaginable.
We do mean everything.
Have a recent high school graduate in your life whose dorm room could use some sprucing up? We’ve got a vast selection of posters featuring prints of some of the most popular collection items here at the Estate. Need a coffee mug that’ll convince your friends, family, and coworkers that you are, at least occasionally, cultured? We’ve got plenty to choose from for you caffeine junkies out there. Did you underestimate just how cold these drafty museum galleries can get? We have a lovely array of knit infinity scarves to help you bundle up against the chill. (Full disclosure, these do not have any artworks printed on them, but they will make you look like a bohemian artist yourself!)
All this and so much more can be found at the Estate gift shop. Not sure where to find it? Don’t worry, you’ll find the gift shop at the end of each and every exhibit. Every. Last. One. The exact. Same. Gift shop. Efforts have been made over the years to explain this architectural mystery, but to no avail. So if you do not wish to be forever exiting through the gift shop, then simply backtrack through the exhibit you have just ambled through until you reach the entrance. And we do mean backtrack quite literally. It never seems to work correctly when people just turn around and walk the other direction. And don’t worry about any odd looks that your fellow Godfrey guests may give you as you walk backwards through the halls. Our staff are always on-hand to politely remind the gawkers that it is rude to stare.
But the perfect gift, for yourself or your loved ones, might be waiting for you in the Godfrey gift shop. So stop on by and give it a look. Statistically speaking, you’ll run into it eventually.
***
Green Woman Emerges from Mid-Century Modern Wall (1956)
Artist unknown
Medium unknown
I see you’ve made your way to the Green Woman. It is one of our biggest draws. That wasn’t a pun. You can clearly see that the artpiece before you is not a drawing of any kind.
It is an eye-catching work. Arresting, even. As if something holds you here, an unseen force over which you have no say and no control. That specific shade of neon, somewhere between lime and emerald, has a knack of drawing focus. But have you looked closer at it? I can tell by your GPS tracker that you’ve fought your way to the front of the throng to get a better look. Well done. Such a task is not easy.
But have you seen it yet? Have your eyes adjusted to the lurid pattern of green and white – which threaten to overwhelm all else at the end of this hallway – and have you seen it emerge from the chaos?
Have you seen her?
She’s right there, extending horizontally out of the wall on the left-hand side, curled in upon herself like a contortionist. The same shade of green, the same pattern as the walls, marked on her skin, like a chameleon. She is naked – without even hair to hide her bald head – though the unnatural curvature of her body preserves a sense of privacy.
No one has ever seen her face.
No one knows how she appeared.
No one knows why.
We do know when, though. There had been an extensive modern photography exhibit planned in this section of the Estate for the spring of 1956. Then, on the very eve of the exhibit’s opening, when all the staff had gone home and Annabelle herself had retired to her living quarters here on the grounds, she emerged in its place.
No one knows where those photographs went, even to this very day. Staff who got too close to the new arrival suffered temporary mental breakdowns, and for a time could only communicate via flash cards of Rorschach ink blots. It was an awful mess to clean up, but nothing that Annabelle Godfrey and her team of lawyers couldn’t handle.
And here she is still. After all this time.
Some guests claim to have seen her twitch. The barest flick of the pinky finger. A brief muscle spasm in her lower back. The subtle expansion and contraction of her chest in what must be inhalations and exhalations. But most see nothing at all.
What do you see?
What do you think she is waiting for?
Will we know it when the time comes?
Will we be ready when the time comes?
***
[CREDITS]:
Thank you for listening to The Godfrey Audio Guide. This episode was written, produced, and performed by Nicole Knudsen, with sound design and editing by James Ferrero.
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Until next time, friends. See you back at the museum!
