WINTER ' FOURTEEN
French Knitting
by Elizabeth Hopkinson
Artist: Jean-Francois Millet
Start Date: c.1856
Completion Date:1857
Style: Realism
Genre: genre painting
Technique: pastel
Material: paper
Each night, the witch knits Rapunzel's hair.
Round the peg, over the peg, down the hole. Round the peg, over the peg, down the hole. The
witch uses a staff, smooth as obsidian after years of knitting, to lift each loop of hair over the last, push
it down the limitless p it, straighten the arrangement before making the next loop. There are seven
pegs, each as thick as Rapunzel's waist, when the witch first brought her to this room. Seven points of
a magic star. Seven nights in each turning of the week. Seven years the witch has knitted, while Rapunzel's
figure has changed from smooth stick to gently curving bough. The pit is wider than the witch's ample
The Linnet's Wings