Bonnet c. 1937

Sara Garfinkel created this watercolor of a bonnet, a headdress that speaks volumes about its wearer and the times. In Western cultures, the bonnet has long symbolized modesty and domesticity, often associated with women's roles within the home and community. Yet, consider the echoes of this head covering in other contexts. In medieval art, similar head coverings denoted humility and piety, worn by nuns or depicted on the Virgin Mary. These symbols resurface even in secular fashion, suggesting the complex interplay between religious tradition, social expectation, and personal identity. The bonnet as a motif engages our collective memory, evoking notions of protection, restraint, and the hidden self. Its reappearance in different forms reveals a cyclical progression, adapted and reinterpreted across history. The emotions it stirs are powerful: nostalgia, longing, and the subtle tension between visibility and concealment.