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The Hidden Life of Renaissance Art
The Hidden Life of Renaissance Art
THE HIDD RT
I S S A N C E A
RENAnd Symbols in Great Masterpieces
Secrets a
CLARE
GIBSON
124 Allusion and Allegory
O ne of the most famous works of Renaissance art, Primavera (the Italian word for “spring”) is also one of
the most puzzled over, for many have sought a deeper level of meaning than an initial identification of
this image as a Classically inspired allegory of the season of spring would suggest. In fact, there may be at least
two, both of which hinge on the central figure of Venus—the Roman goddess of love and beauty whose Greek
counterpart was Aphrodite—who raises her hand as though welcoming the viewer into her realm.
The first possible additional explanation is that Primavera is an allegory of young love and sexual awakening, for
spring is the time of year when the natural world starts to spring to life, the birds and bees pair off, and single
young men and women’s thoughts traditionally turn to courtship and marriage. Indeed, it is believed that
this painting was commissioned to be hung at the Medici villa at Castello, outside
Florence, to commemorate the marriage, in 1482, of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’
Medici (1463–1503) to Semiramide Appiani, daughter of the ruler of Piombino.
The second is that although Primavera depicts a pagan scene peopled with Greco–Roman
deities, it is, in fact, a Neoplatonist celebration of such ideal Christian virtues as spiritual love, liber-
ality, and charity, qualities to which humans should aspire in the hope of being rewarded, through
God’s grace, with a life that resembles heaven on earth. That said, if this was the intended message,
it was more likely to have been aimed not at the future bridegroom, but at the bride-to-be, who is
almost certainly represented by the middle Grace, whose head has been turned by the handsome
Mercury (Hermes), the messenger of the Greco-Roman gods and guide and protector
of those undertaking the potentially perilous journey between this world and the
next. Equally, however, the hidden meaning may again simply allude to the marital
joys into which the innocent young bride is about to be initiated.
Oranges may be In both Classical and such as Chastity (Castitas), may be pictured gently
equated with the Renaissance times, they were Beauty (Pulchritudo), and encouraging Chastity’s
golden apples of typically portrayed dancing, Love (Amor) or Sensuality growing desire for Mercury.
Classical mythology, notably holding each other’s hands (Voluptas).
those that grew in the garden as they described a delicate Here, Love Lustrous pearls are
of the Hesperides, and circle. Along with gracefulness (or Sensuality) attributes of the sea-born
consequently often denote and loveliness, they represent and Beauty Venus (and by extension,
paradise. Their presence in the giving, receiving, and the Graces).
this painting may also refer returning of a grace, be it
to the Medici bridegroom, a gift, a benefit, or God’s
partly through a verbal pun grace, and consequently
on his family name, the liberality. According to
orange sometimes being artistic convention, one
called malus medicus (Latin Grace is depicted with
for “medicinal apple”) in her back to the viewer;
Renaissance times, and partly symbolically, this denotes
through a visual allusion to that giving away
the red balls adorning a something beneficial will
golden shield that comprised cause it to be returned
the Medici coat of arms. twice over (as signified by the
two Graces facing the viewer).
In Greco–Roman mythology, The Greeks named the
the three Graces (Gratiae, as individual Graces Aglaia,
they were known in ancient Euphrosyne, and
Rome, or Charites, as the Thalia, but they were
Greeks called them) were given alternative
the lovely attendants of appellations in
Venus/Aphrodite. Renaissance Italy,
126 Allusion and Allegory
Minerva Chasing
the Vices from the
Garden of Virtue
Andrea Mantegna
See also The Neoplatonist Philosophy (pages 96–98), The Este Family (page 159).
The hybrid her father to save her from A legend is spelled out in and philosophical texts were
tree–woman is violation, whereupon she was three different languages written in these ancient
reminiscent of transformed into a laurel tree. and scripts: in Latin (top), tongues, which is why they
Daphne, who, in Here representing Virtus Greek (middle), and Hebrew were valued by humanist
Greek myth, was Deserta (Latin for “Deserted (bottom). Many influential scholars, and therefore also
the daughter of Virtue”), the arms of this Biblical and Classical secular by Isabella.
the River Ladon. arboreal personification of
Daphne had sworn Chastity are portrayed as olive,
to remain chaste, rather than laurel, branches,
but caught Apollo’s for the olive was sacred to
lustful eye. Losing Athena/Minerva and
ground as she fled symbolized such positive
from the sun god, qualities as prosperity,
she cried out to knowledge, and peace.
Allusion and Allegory 129
Athena/Minerva charges
»into action wearing her
characteristic accouterments
of war: a helmet from which
a flamboyant panache flares;
a breastplate decorated with
the gorgoneion (the snake-
haired head of the Gorgon
Medusa); a shield (the aegis);
and a spear.
Athena/Minerva’s spearhead
lies on the ground, evidence
of the force with which she
has launched her attack on
the vices. Scholars believe
that this detail is also a
reference to the broken
lance presented to Isabella
by her husband after the
Battle of Fornovo, suggesting
that she had been his
inspiration on the battlefield.
The Ambassadors
Hans Holbein the Younger
I ts title, its subjects, its contents, and the artist who created
this picture together speak volumes about the royal courts
of sixteenth-century Europe, when learning was prized, when
dynastically obsessed monarchs despatched ambassadors to
one another to serve as spies, and when the Reformation ini-
tiated by Martin Luther (1483–1546) was starting to trans-
form the religious and political face of Europe.
Having arrived in England the previous year, the German-
born Holbein had a name to make for himself in 1533, and,
indeed, would end his days in the employ of King Henry
VIII (1491–1547). In the meantime, he worked hard to cre-
ate, and fulfill, the increasing demand for his extraordinarily
lifelike portraits, of which one of the most complex was this
double depiction of two Frenchmen: Jean de Dinteville
(c.1503–55), a diplomat sent to Henry’s court by the French
king, Francis I (1494–1547), and his friend, Georges de
Selve (c.1508–41), the Roman Catholic bishop of Lavaur
and occasional ambassador to the Holy Roman emperor,
Vatican, and Venice. In portraying these sleek, well-dressed
men amid rich furnishings and a wealth of scientific and
musical instruments and books, Holbein painted a flattering
picture of a pair of prosperous, educated men in their
prime, who possessed exquisite taste, enquiring minds, and
important positions in society.
There are at least two further, deeper levels of meaning,
however. One may allude to the tense situation in Europe, for
this was the momentous year in which King Henry divorced
his Catholic wife, Catherine of Aragon, and married the
Protestant Anne Boleyn (their daughter, Elizabeth, would be
born later that year). In a related move, it was also in 1533 that
Henry renounced the supremacy of the pope and proclaimed
himself head of the Church of England. The other is even
more profound, for certain clues communicate the uncompro-
mising message that no matter how privileged we are, death
comes to us all, and that if we wish to enjoy an eternal after-
life in heaven, rather than allowing ourselves to be diverted by
ultimately transient earthly distractions, we should remain
mindful of the central, and simple, Christian message.