Description
Book SynopsisThe relationship between medieval animal symbolism and the iconography of animals in the Renaissance has scarcely been studied. Filling a gap in this significant field of Renaissance culture, in general, and its art, in particular, this book demonstrates the continuity and tenacity of medieval animal interpretations and symbolism, disguised under the veil of genre, religious or mythological narrative and scientific naturalism. An extensive introduction, dealing with relevant medieval and early Renaissance sources, is followed by a series of case studies that illustrate ways in which Renaissance artists revived conventional animal imagery in unprecedented contexts, investing them with new meanings, on a social, political, ethical, religious or psychological level, often by applying exegetical methodology in creating multiple semantic and iconographic levels. Brill's Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History, vol. 2
Trade Review"...a fascinating and erudite iconographical study.... the scholarship is exemplary. The book is well-written in a lively and engaging style, it is logically structured, beautifully illustrated, with an excellent index, select bibliography and epilogue. The book provides an extremely useful starting point for anyone whose work touches on animals and their meanings in Renaissance culture." Erin Campbell, Renaissance Quarterly, 62:912–913, Fall 2009
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction I. THE HERITAGE AND SOURCES 1. Medieval Sources of Renaissance Animal Symbolism Concealing the Tracks: The Physiologus and Bestiary Tradition A Monkey on the Roof: Animal Moralizations in Exempla Literature and Sermons Animal Moralizations in Medieval Encyclopedias The Psychomachia Tradition and Images of Mounted Vices 2. Renaissance Naturalists and Animal Symbolism: Fact and Fantasy Bestiaries of the Fifteenth Century: The Monsters of Pier Candido Decembrio’s De animantium naturis The Timid Hare and Lustful Camel: Leonardo da Vinci’s Bestiary Natural History in the Sixteenth Century 3. Emblematic Literature and Related Sources Andrea Alciato’s Emblematum Libellus: Its Sources and Influence The Symbola et emblemata of Joachim Camerarius The Traditional and Retrospective Aspect of the Renaissance Emblem II. CASE STUDIES 4. The Birds and Animals of Carpaccio’s Miles Christianus 5. The Enigma of Carpaccio’s Venetian Ladies 6. Animals in the Paintings of Titian: A Key to Hidden Meanings 7. Titian’s London Allegory and the Three Beasts of his Selva Oscura 8. Animal Heads and Hybrid Creatures: The Case of the San Lorenzo Lavabo and its Sources 9. Andrea del Sarto’s Madonna of the Harpies and the Human-Animal Hybrid in the Renaissance 10. The Ambivalent Scorpio in Bronzino’s London Allegory Epilogue Select Bibliography Index
