BEY’S ICONIC BABY SHOOT
WE’RE used to everything BEYONCÉ does being big – and surprising – but this caught everyone off-guard even by Queen B’s standards. When the pop star posted the announcement on Instagram that she and hubby JAY-Z (47) are expecting twins the internet erupted.
In no time the snap (ABOVE), showing the 35-year-old against a background of flowers cradling her pregnant belly, had made history – becoming the most liked picture ever on the photo-sharing site.
But not everyone shared in the Flawless singer’s newfound joy. Hours later people were dissing her, saying she’d stolen the idea for the shoot from British rapper MIA (41). In her upcoming Powa video, clips of which she’s been sharing online, MIA can be seen lying in a truck bed covered in bright flowers with her face hidden by a veil (TOP LEFT).
“Wow, it’s crazy how Bey just can’t be original, SMH [shaking my head],” wrote one MIA fan, while another posted, “We know where Beyoncé got her inspiration for the twins pic. Lmao [laughing my ass off]! Keep teaching them, MIA.”
This isn’t the first time the 20-time Grammy winner has been accused of stealing from the rapper. Last November MIA told the UK’s Q magazine, “I’m fine with Madonna or Beyoncé or Rihanna being inspired by my work but I’d like them to then go, ‘Yeah, this immigrant who came out of nowhere influenced us, so maybe not all of them are f**king terrible.’”
Meanwhile the photos – which Beyoncé posted on her website the next day under the title I Have Three Hearts – have also drawn
comparisons with classical works of art.
The snap of her reclining on a chaise lounge next to her and Jay-Z’s five-year-old daughter, BLUE IVY, resembles Guido Reni’s Reclining Venus With Cupid from the 17th century, while the photo of her standing topless with her hand on her breast channels The Birth Of Venus by Botticelli from the 15th century.
Even her pregnancy announcement photo has been compared to Flemish artist Jan Brueghel the Elder’s Madonna In Floral Wreath, which shows the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms. While Bey is a fan of art history, this could have more to do with the photographer she used, Awol Erizku. The 28-year-old is known as the darling of New York’s art scene and often likes to reimagine iconic works of Western art with black subjects.