Adelitas Inspiring Princess Leia

Today I learned about the Adelitas - female soldiers of the Mexican revolution, on whom George Lucas claims to have based Princess Leia. I can see it.

Original painting, prints, and merch available via shop link above or through Fine Art America.

The name Adelita came from a popular song, and grew to be applied to the soldaderas of the Mexican Revolution, who fought against government forces with the rebel army.

According to Wikipedia, Adelita "came to be an archetype of a woman warrior in Mexico, and a symbol of action and inspiration. Additionally, the name is used to refer to any woman who struggles and fights for her rights."

The Adelita in my painting is based on this historical photograph. (Source) I was drawn to the woman in the lower left hand corner.

A Public Radio International story from 2016 backs up the Princess Leia - Adelita connection, noting that "in 2002, Lucas told Time magazine that he was “working very hard to create something different that wasn't fashion.” Inspiration came, as Lucas put it, from a "turn-of-the-century Mexico" and “kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look.”"

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Nuwa

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