31 March, 2011

Literary Jewel- Looking for a Photo

I've spent a few hours, now, looking for a photo of the symbolic necklace that Patti Smith shared with her first great love, Robert Mapplethorpe.  She describes it in Just Kids, her love letter to Mapplethorpe:

'It was made of two enameled metal plaques bound together with heavy black and silver threads, like a very old and exotic scapular. It cost eighteen dollars, which seemed like a lot of money. When things were quiet I would take it out of the case and trace the calligraphy etched upon its violet surface, and dream up tales of its origins.'
She still has it.  Has anyone seen a photo of this necklace? 
Just Kids is romantic to the last page.  Patti is a poet, writing a love letter to her beloved, so she may have sacrificed honesty to beauty since that is where a poet's fealty lies.  One moment clearly illuminated the truth of their love and relationship.  Mapplethorpe, dying of AIDS, photographed Smith and her new daughter and said, "We never had a child," adding, "We gave ourselves to art."  

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