Description

Saint Bettie Page was a pinup icon whose career took off in the 50s. Page participated in much of the modeling scene during the 50s, which included making bondage films with Irving Klaw, selling her image to photographers, and was one of the earliest Playmates for Playboy.
Page experienced much hardship when she was young. She was designated to take care of her younger siblings. She was sexually molested by her father. She had a very unstable home life. Despite this, she graduated high school with Salutatorian honors and went to college with a scholarship. She had a few abusive marriages.
Later in life, Page became extremely religious. She felt that all of her modeling was sin, and she wanted to cleanse herself. She became an Evangelical Christian and was enveloped in that cult-like mentality. In 1978 she had a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After being in a mental hospital, she was released and was virtually never heard from again until she died in 2008.

In this depiction of Page, I have placed her in a saint’s position. The Catholic church would have most definitely disapproved of Page’s line of work and her image. This is even more of a reason for me to paint her as a saint. Page was often called a Sinner-Saint and Madonna Whore because of her innocent image combined with her sex work. I have canonized Bettie Page as a saint herself, because of her unwavering determination, her intelligence, her perseverance through the most horrible times in her life, and her generous kindness. She is an inspiration to me and many others to be ourselves, regardless of what the Church says.