When I initially read about Olga, my brain demanded flaming pigeons. Now we’re further down the line it – yeah it’s still that. There’s been a pose in mind from the very beginning, but when it comes to what she’s wearing, it’s been somewhat more difficult. To begin, do we put her in armour or a dress? If armour, what sort of armour? I now have a folder full of references of her son Sviatoslav and her husband Igor, as I imagine that if she ever armoured up on the battlefield, she would have worn similar to those two. There are no records I could find of her fighting, but she was there amongst the soldiers, so wearing protective gear just in case doesn’t seem too far a stretch.
However! For this project, the symbolic vengeful queen in gown with flaming pigeons seems better suited, and hopefully, not too far in the future, we can have a bonus Olga fighting with a big old sword and mailled up. If you’re good. By good I mean buy this one, and I’ll consider the latter if she flies off the shelves.
If you haven’t yet, you can read a bit more about her on the research post.
So, how is she portrayed?
I try to look for sources as contemporary as possible, which has been difficult with this period. As we’ve seen when researching other figures, artists like to add their own flair, which is often reflective of the times in which it was created. However, Olga in a wimple, long gown, tighter undersleeves and a crown is pretty much the iconic gear for so many of her depictions.
There was a long moment where I was stuck on whether to portray her as Christian or Pagan, especially as I wanted to include the flaming pigeons and sparrows, which was before her conversion. Of all the inspiration in the world, I turned to the wise words of Jez, from British comedy “Peep Show”.
“Uh, yeah, I spent some time with Ray before he went and I just wanted to say that I think we should all remember that Ray, by the end, he loved Jesus. Look, what I’m trying to say is that if I was dying and I decided that even though I’d never particularly been into, say, Enya before but that now I really, really was into Enya and that in fact, I thought Enya was great and that Enya died for our sins and I wanted an Enya themed funeral with pictures of Enya and lots and lots of mentions of Enya, then I think it would be a bit bloody rich for my sister to ban all mention of Enya from my funeral. Yeah?“
Ok yeah fair point! The cross it is! There is important symbolism to consider in these miniatures, and the Queen and Saint are two main elements of this for Enya. I mean, Olga.
The Design
Admittedly, this is the most out of my comfort zone I have been so far in the project. It’s become clear to me that it’s such a changing period, not just in fashion but, everything! In fact it was Olga herself, who put many of these wheels in motion.
We’re gonna go for the “something old, something new” theory for design here, as we are combining elements of her pre and post Christianity, which is also a huge change culturally.
I’ve drawn her in a simple gown of two layers, which you can then paint freehand to your heart’s content or(much easier) block in the colour with a bit of a wash over to bring out the folds. Red, blue and green are very strong in the older paintings. I will add in my notes to the sculptor that I wish the wimple, dress and cape to be more blowy in the wind, rather than just hanging there. As is she’s conjuring a storm (which she is, really!)
Pigeons, of course! This will be a fun challenge for Alan (I’m sure I said that last not too long ago, poor Alan) as the mini will be single piece, so he will need to find a way of “attaching” pigeons to her. I know you’re reading this Alan, I have faith in you!
For the pose, I looked through plenty of spell caster reference photos, and I couldn’t quite get what I wanted, until I remembered the first bit of inspiration – The Night King from Game of Thrones! There’s a particular scene where he raises the dead and the stance is so powerful that I had to! It’s why her expression isn’t shouting, as it’s nicely sinister instead. We have ALL the pop culture references today.
There are lots of jewels to show her status, and a cross, which may end up quite oversized but is an important reference to her beliefs. The Eastern Orthodox cross has a variety of designs that are based on these two shapes. The right version will work better at such a small size.
The crown will probably be shortened from the drawing to something like this, from Nikolai Alexandrovich Bruni, which shows the pearls along the top. The “sunken” areas will be much easier to cast than if the rim was taller, and many are familiar with this image. See what I mean with that cold gaze – more effective than a yell. It’s terrifying. I have been told on several occasions that I am capable of such a face, usually when prepping for a big convention. This is clearly untrue.
As a final point – the pigeons won’t have sculpted fire. Nope, nope. I have tried to paint flames coming off minis too often to put that onto you. A flame on a bonfire or torch – yes, but coming from a mini, it often looks just… hairy. They also weren’t on fire when released. BUT. You can paint them fiery or make some neat conversions to add some flames. I won’t tell you off. Or give you the stare.
As I am always looking for as many ways I can sell a people can use a mini, I feel this design makes her a brilliant fantasy spellcaster or leader. Or both!
As always, disclaimer that I am not a historian, nor do I spend extra time getting the drawings perfect, as they only need to be good enough for the sculptor to work with – but I do have heaps of enthusiasm and obsession, so hoorah!
-Annie
Community Miniatures Project 