Uta was a member of the House of Ascania. Through her marriage to Margrave Eckard II, she was the Margravine of Meissen in Saxony, eastern Germany.
Presumably to promote the rise of the Ascanian dynasty, Uta’s father married her to Eckard II in about 1026. However, the marriage produced no children, resulting in the extinction of the Ekkeharding dynasty.
The couple contributed a significant amount to construct what would become the Naumburg Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul.
When the Cathedral was completed in the mid-13th century, the presiding bishop honoured the founders, Ekkehard, Uta and 10 other nobles by commissioning the anonymous ‘Naumburg Master’ to produce life-size painted statues of them to adorn the cathedral. The sculptures are remarkable as secular rather than biblical decorations for the cathedral, particularly as they depict nobles rather than kings or emperors. The depictions are now generally considered masterpieces of Gothic art.
In the 20th century, the statue of Uta was used by the Nazi’s as a prototype of the ideal Aryan woman, even appearing as an Aryan role model in Fritz Hippler’s propaganda film The Eternal Jew.
It is also believed that the statue inspired the depiction of the Evil Queen in Disney’s 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. You be the judge!
NB: the dates from when her image was used to depict a ‘Teutonic Madonna’ in various Nazi propaganda makes me wonder if that was why her likeness was used to represent an evil character in the Disney film. Just a thought! Post link
ok so this German town, Lohr am Main, claims that it’s the birthplace of the woman who inspired the fairytale of Snow White. (This claim is totally false, the math doesn’t add up, I’m working on a blog post series about it.) They have a whole tourist theme based on this.
In like 2013 or 2014, the mayor held a contest for a statue of Snow White to be put up in the town. The judges’ committee picked thisas the winner.
It resembles a young child’s endearingly clumsy drawing, but with a kind of Medusa-esque horror. Tentacles protrude from its head. It has buggy, alien-like eyes and a quirky sideways smile like Junior Asparagus. Its stubby T-rex arms and contorted tiny hands are splayed out in a parody of a welcoming embrace. I think it has decolletage?
So since he won, the creator was supposed to make a permanent version. He came back with a big permanent metal version and a 100k euro bill for the town. The townspeople (who apparently did not get any say in the contest) were livid. (Comment from @procrastinatorkimberlygrey: “I FUCKING BET”)
Behold it looming menacingly over the crowd. I like the one woman to the left of the statue who looks like she’s probably crying laughing.
A student put up graffiti of it. Now it’s a meme. They call it “Horror White.” There are T-shirts.
I love everything about this. I’m pretty sure the statue has been vandalized at least once.
