Beautiful Moves

November 26, 2013 3:33 AM

Chess Portraits — a glamourous costumed set by photographer Francesco Ridolfi.
posted by cenoxo (17 comments total)

NSFW btw (at least not safe for anywhere where naked female chests would be nsfw).
posted by pharm at 3:47 AM on November 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

One (rather small) breast, true. Nicely lit, however.
posted by cenoxo at 3:51 AM on November 26, 2013

Nicely lit. Not hugely elephanty.
posted by pompomtom at 4:06 AM on November 26, 2013

I sense a certain bias. I believe that Ridolfi is in the pocket of Big White Side.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:19 AM on November 26, 2013 [6 favorites]

Chess Portraits - The making of (Vimeo). The breast makes several brief appearances, but fortunately there is a calming soundtrack by Paul Pritchard: Imagine.
posted by cenoxo at 4:45 AM on November 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

The woman with a bare breast - pawn?
posted by iotic at 5:28 AM on November 26, 2013

Rook.
posted by Simon! at 5:49 AM on November 26, 2013

From the credits:

Francesco Ciampi : The King
Milena Kundic : The Queen
Toni Pandolfo : The Bishop
Antonio Rocco : The Rook
Portia Cheri : The Knight
Luca Mazzamurro : The Pawn

So probably The Knight.
That's the trouble with these fancy expensive chess sets - you can never tell which piece is meant to be which.
posted by pipeski at 6:07 AM on November 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

Rook? I have to admit that I was confused which one was the pawn and the rook. I assumed that the more courtier like fellow was the rook while the be-weaponed and well-lit boob possessor was the pawn. I was thinking, off the wall, that that the breast exposure seemed familiar from D&D art days, hell, Boris Vallejo (2nd link may nsfw, if your work has problems with Molly Hatchett style of art); chain mail and cleavage exposure.

Interesting that the knight was dressed as a romance cover style Viking.
posted by jadepearl at 6:08 AM on November 26, 2013

This was interesting. I liked it. I caught myself thinking the level of nudity (one bare breast per side) was odd though; it seems to me that it should have been either more for art's sake or none for practicality's sake. Who in their right mind would go into battle with their tender private bits exposed, swinging around, and flopping about?
posted by Daddy-O at 6:20 AM on November 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Interesting. It does seem to lean heavily on the tired old white=good/black=bad dichotomy, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:54 AM on November 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think the one bare breast may be an Amazon reference. While some traditions had Amazons removing one of their breasts to somehow make them more effective in battle -- dubious etymology sometimes claims a-mazon means "one-breasted" derived from some form of ancient Greek, but I have also seen that debunked -- other Classical works showed Amazons with one breast bared in battle.
posted by aught at 8:38 AM on November 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

Right click -> Save as... and then look at the filename if you wish to confirm which is which.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:51 AM on November 26, 2013

Who in their right mind would go into battle with their tender private bits exposed...
...Amazons with one breast bared in battle.

It would be effective psyops against male opponents across a battle line (or chess board) — while they're not watching your spear, dagger, or queen, skewer them. Check, mate!

Other free-spirited role models are also up for inspiration, including:

Liberty Leading the People, Eugene Delacroix, 1830
Miss Liberty, Hermon A. McNeil, 1916-17
Spirit of Justice, C. Paul Jennewein, 1934

All NSFW of course: drapes are available upon request.
posted by cenoxo at 8:00 PM on November 26, 2013

I sense a certain bias. I believe that Ridolfi is in the pocket of Big White Side.

Yes, brings to mind this.
posted by vitabellosi at 7:51 AM on November 27, 2013

Spirit of Justice, C. Paul Jennewein, 1934

I believe this is the statue John Ashcroft (spit, spit) had his staff to cover up during the Bush years so that he wouldn't get cooties from being in the same television shot as breasts, though he later blamed some nameless minion for making the call, the spineless creep.
posted by aught at 8:13 AM on November 27, 2013

jadepearl: I assumed that the more courtier like fellow was the rook while the be-weaponed and well-lit boob possessor was the pawn.

Pawns are disposable and weak, like the courtier with only a knife.

Rooks are fortified and fast-moving, like the (girl trope) armored Grace-Jones wannabe.

But instead, the obviously knightly-armored dude was the rook... somehow.

How about her on a horse, if she's an actual knight? How about him with a bow, if he's (defending) a castle?
posted by IAmBroom at 11:06 PM on November 29, 2013