Dawn Mills

Queen, Linocut (based on Cartimandua Celtic Queen of the Brigantes, reigned AD 43-69)

When the invitation to take part in the Hadrian Wall Print 1900 project arrived, it was immediately clear that I would expand my interest in Cartimandua, the Celtic Queen and translate earlier digital work into an original Linocut print. I became aware of her significance in March this year, when I was Artistic Director in an experimental short production of Cartimandua the forgotten Celtic Queen at Theatre by the Lake. The performance incorporated a sequence of digital images, short video and backdrops which I designed and created.

My intention for this linocut was to create a multi layered image that would reflect the complexity and nuances of the historical significance of Hadrian’s wall as a geographical border, that resulted from the Roman invasion of Britain. Queen evolved by overlapping five different Linocut plates of images that represent elements from the Roman and Celtic cultures.

1. Roman Soldiers

2. The Stanwick Horse Mask (British Museum)

3. Figure of Cartimandua

4. Coin of Cartimandua

5. Horses

Boudicca of the Iceni tribe has been celebrated in modern British culture as a ‘warrior queen’ who resisted Roman tyranny, less well-known, but perhaps more significant was Cartimandua was arguably a more powerful and successful queen. Cartimandua’s tribe, the Brigantes, occupied the region known today as northern England, from south west Scotland to Derby, said to be the largest tribe on the British Isles. Although both women were powerful figures in their own right, one distinctive feature that separated the two queens was their policy towards the Romans. Whilst Boudicca famously led a rebellion against the Romans, Cartimandua pursued a more pro-Roman policy.
My artistic vision for the Hadrian Wall project was for Cartimandua to be more prominent than the Romans, highlighting her importance as a powerful, yet often-neglected, woman in history.