Reinhardt Maack later made colored copies of the
painting, one of which was first published in a book on the bushman art of South
West Africa compiled by H. Obermaier and H. Kuhn titled ' Buschmannkunst
Aus SudwestAfrika' (Published in 1930 by H. Schmidt and C. Gunther -
Pantheon Verlog Fur Kunstwissenschaft - Leipzig) and thus the
painting was introduced to the outside world.
The White
Lady Of Brandberg - The Misinterpretation and The Myth:
The French priest and
archeologist Abbe Henri Breuil (1877 - 1961) was a professor at the
College de France, where he lectured from 1929 - 1947 and for some
time held the position of Chairman of Pre-History at the College.
While having a reputation of tending to romanticize about certain art
works he was, at the time, acknowledged as being one of the foremost authorities on
ancient European rock art. An experienced researcher who tried to
hard interpret and understand the meanings of such works.
Why A White Lady ?
The Abbe was visiting Cape Town in
1929 when one of the watercolor copies of Maack's sketch was brought to his
attention. Breuil returned to Europe and reported that his curiosity
over the painting was close to haunting him. He studied the drawing from
the Maack Cave and hypothesized that the central figure was that of a
female. He likened the figure to those of the female athletes
depicted on the walls of the ancient palace of King Minos at Knossos in Crete
wearing a brown jerkin and white or pink lower body tights. Breuil
theorized that the migration of a small group of ancient travelers from the
Eastern Mediterranean had eventually arrived in a far off corner
of Southern Africa. His able secretary and assistant Miss Mary Boyle
is accredited with suggesting that the figure be called The White
Lady Of Brandberg
"When are you
coming to visit our
White Lady Of Brandberg?
In 1940 Breuil lead the first archeological investigation of the Lascaux
Caves in Southern France and his work was widely acclaimed. Following
the end of the Second World War the Abbe's interest in the painting at
the Brandberg was rekindled and he is alleged to have written a
letter to the Prime Minister of South Africa General J.C. Smuts, "I
send you a portrait of a charming young girl who has been waiting for
me on a rock in the Brandberg for perhaps 3,000 years; do you think it
polite to keep her waiting much longer?" In 1946 Smuts visited Paris
and lunched with the Abbe and Ms. Boyle. Breuil writes in his 1955
book that Smuts asked him, "When are you coming to visit our
White Lady of Brandberg ?"
The invitation
accepted to visit the White Lady Of Brandberg:
The following year the Abbe
accompanied by Ms. Boyle, a Dr. Martin and Dr. Schultz made an
expedition to the Brandberg and on 5 August 1947 arrived in the Tsisab
Gorge and viewed the 'White Lady' painting. Later in 1948 he wrote a
paper that was published in The South African Archeological Bulletin
called, " The White Lady Of Brandberg - Her Companions
And Her Guards." The Abbe's theory caused an amount of
international sensation and interest in the painting at
the Brandberg.
