Deviation Actions
Description
A concept drawign for the all-female Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire Varangian Guard in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited, which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800 AD to 1400 AD. As it says on the tin, they are based on the famous Varangian Guards, the elite personal troops of the Byzantine Empire from the 10th - 14th century,
Inspired by the music: Legacy of Rome by Andreas Waldetoft
The Varangian Guards is perhaps one of the most well known name when Byzantine Empire is meantioned. While the Historically Wrong Sketch series has a byzantine empress depicted to portray this great empire, I just have to include it as it's one of the most popular and frequently requested by my followers here
Rather than single individual character, I decided to follow the example from the ancient series, the all Female Roman Donkey Legionaries but recycled as an all-female varangian guard...or something similar to that. Technically speaking, they would serve the Byzantine Empress of the HWS series as her loyal personal bodyguard, willing to give up their lives under the Empress will. Their depictions are however, rather generic and perhaps contemporary, given that a lot of historical artists have drawn Varangian Guard at one stage in their career. For the Historically Wrong Sketch version however, I decided to use mix of anachronism and quite a few personal artistic license
The lady in the center, probably an officer or maybe an equivalent to the Akolouthos, is depicted with the tall decorated byzantine kettle helmet based on the ones found in Russia (13th-14th CE), while her shield incorporates the raven symbol, often associated with the Varangians. The elite very heavy guard on the right is based on contemporary source, though her weapon is a stylized version found from the 12th century Varangian Chronicle in "Joannis Scylitzae Synopsis Historiarum". The guard on the left is drawn with an armored scale cuirass based on various resources while her axe is based on the 11tch CE axe head found in Novi Pazar, Bulgaria. As for the lamellar cuirass of the other two, they are mainly based on the depiction of St. Lucas Fresco from monastery monastery in Boeotia, Greece.
Without having to dwell in details, I do hope that many of you will enjoy this drawing. Many thanks for the continous support, feedback and suggestions