Sandro Botticelli: a study of his major allegorical paintings

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SAHDSO BOTTlCELLl-s . A STUDY OP HIS MAJOR ALLEGORICAL PAINTINGS

byJoanne Snow Smith

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of theDEPARTMENT OF ART

■ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree ofMASTER OF ARTS

In the Graduate College• THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA '

1968

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfill­ment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library#

Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable with special permission, provided that accurate acknowl­edgment of source is made# Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder#

SIGNED:K)ocLnn£-

APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below:

Robert M. Quinn Professor of Art History

'Date

. COPYRIGHTED BY

JOANNE SNOW SMITH 1968

ill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PageLIST OP I L L U S T R A T I O N S vABSTRACT o oooo©©©®©.©0o-©©o©©.©©©©oo©<&oo©©©©oo«i 3,

CHAPTER. 1© INTRODUCTION©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©g©©©©©© I2© - BOTTICELLI6S USE OF ALLEGORY© .... 63e V'ENUS AND MARS ©©©©©©©©© &.©©©©©© ©.© ©©©©©©©©©©© 10fy? o prtmavera o ©©©©©©©©0©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 3036 THE BIRTH OP VENUS©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© V06© MINERVA AND THE C E N T A U R © 10?V © CONCLUSION ©©©©©©©©©©©©©e &©©©©© ©©©©•©©©©© ©oo© X 39

SELECTED B I B L I O G B A P H Y . . 143

iv

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure1.

. 2«'3*

5o

60

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80

9o10.

‘ 11*

12 « ■13.

15 o

160

" F S U U S R - U d l‘Ici X ’S^ o o e e e © © . © e o © © 0 0 © © © 6 - 0 0 e © e © o 11The God Pan Blowing a Goneh Shell©«.«.».«.« «. 13

»<?Melencolla I by Albrecht Durer© 15\ ;The Muni on Pie ta & © ©■©. © ©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©s©©©© 19

Venus and Mars© DetailoT the Head ox Mars ©©©©©■© ©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 20

Prlis.av5 era© ©©.©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© ©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 31Mercury Conducts Psyche

to Olympus©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©Hermes Leading Souls to Charon and Hermes Raising SoulsFrom the Shades© ©© ©©©©©©©© ©©©©©©© ©©©©©© ©©© 50

Mother Mosc Chaste©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 62Virgin and Child with the:TwoSainus Iohn© Detaxi©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©

Madonna with the Pomegranate©Detail©©d©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 65

The Adoration of the Magi© Detail©©©©©©©©©© 66The Birch ox Venus»©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© *plThe Annunciation by the Masterof the Barberini Panels©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 83

The Annunciation Panel on Ghiberti6sI xrs*o Doors © 1^03^1^B^© ©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©© 85

The Annunciation Panel in the Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena de8 Pazzi by Botticelli and the Uffizi ' Ammnoiation by Botticelli........... 87

V

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS— Continued

Figure

17® Paintings by Botticelli ofThe Annunciation® Details® o ® ® © e©®®®©®®®®®

IB© The Mystxc Hose©o©®®®©®®©®©®©©®®©®©®®®©©®®©©19® The Glastonbury Thorn and The

Flowering Almond®o©©©®®®©©®©®®®©®®®©©®®©®©20© ■The Thiscle®©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©®©©©©©©@©©©o©©21 © The Laurelo©®®©©©©®®©©.®©®®©®®®©©©®®©®©®©®®©©22® Minerva and the Centaur©©©e©©©©©®©©©©©©©©©©©23© Interwoven Circles and The

Circle ex Ft e m i tv©©©©©©©o©©©®©©©©©©©©©©©©24-® Symbols of the Four

Evangel ists©©®©©®©©©©®©. o©®®©®®©©©®. ©©©©©&©©25© The Equilateral Triangle and.Three

Intertwining Circles Inscribed With Unitas and Trinitas©©®®«©®© © © © ©®© © ©®®

ABSTRACT

The application of accepted Christian iconography to the seemingly pagan allegorical paintings of Sandro Botticelli, reveals the possibility that the artist had deliberately concealed a latent Christian meaning beneath the surfaces

1 - ' \In Venus and Mars, Venus becomes La Pieta, and Marsin his role as Mars Silvanus. represents the dead Christo

. Primavera is a representation of the Last Judgmentwith Venus as Mary,, the Divine Intercessor= Cupid assumesthe role of Christ who invests the Saved with the divinefire before they are led to Heaven by St* Michael in theguise of Mercury, as Satan (Zephyrus) snatches off to Hell,one of the Damned,"while the other remains oblivious toher ultimate fate.

The Birth of Venus portrays the Annunciation,wherein angels fly toward Mary (Venus) in a shower ofroses® The nudity of the main figure symbolizing herignorance and innocence, is about to be covered by aSibyl who extends a cloak emblematic of the joys andsorrows that will be experienced by the Mother of Gods

■ viii

Minerva and the Centaur Is an allegory portraying the redemption and salvation of the soul of man through the intervention and assistance of the Church of Jesus Church®

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The major allegorical paintings of Sando Botticelli will be analyzed in detail in this study in an effort to demonstrate, the possibility that they represent a deliber­ate and considered attempt on the part of the artist to portray scenes from the Christian story by using8 as M s dramatis personae» well-known mythological figures®

Botticelli was bom at Florence in 1444 or 1445» and after a short period of training as a young boy in the shop of a goldsmith, he was apprenticed first to FraFilippo Lippi and'then to Verroehio, and in 14?2 opened his

1own workshop e As he had been a favored pupil of FraFilippo Lippi, a long time painter for the Medici family,

■ 2Botticelli was persona grata in their circle»The sack of Constantinople in 1453 resulted in such

a migration of Greek scholars to Florence that Cosimo de8 Medici, the then de facto head of the Florentine state, and grandfather of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was encouraged to

1® Lionello Venturi and Rosabianca Skira-Venturi, Italian Painting, The Creators of. the Renaissance, Vole I, transo Stuart^Gilberte^ (Genevas SberF°8klra, 1950), p» 193®

2<> Henrietta Gerwig, Fifty Famous Painters, (New York? Tudor Publishing Company,. 1938*)* P° 203

1

2

found the Platonic Academy and appointed the young philos­opher Marsilio Ficino to head it»3 Among the tasks assigned to him by his patron was the translation of Plato 8:s dialogues into Latin, which he completed circa 1468 and followed it by his Commentary on the Symposium (1469) and his principal work, the Platonic Theology (1474)^

In the Ricordi of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Son of Piero di Coslmo de8 Medici. Lorenzo records the death of his grandfather on August 1, 1464, the brief succession of his father Piero which terminated in death on July 2, 146.9, and his own assumption of power at the age of twenty, two days after his father's death®In 1470 Lorenzo received a translation of the second book of Homer by the young poet Poliziano accompanied by a covering letter seeking patronage» Poliziano joined Ficino,. who had by now become Lorenzo6s instructor in Plato, to head the group of Hellenists whowere to.offer so much in inspiration to the young

6 ‘Botticelli® So great was the Greek influence that

3* Janet Ross, hixeg^.^^ v .llL_tMlX_Corz^ppnd^nce, (London: Chat to and Windus, 1910),P® 57®

4® Delio Cantimori, L» D® Ettlinger, Cecil Grayson, John Hale, Joel Hurstfleld, 1® D® McFarlane, Peter Murray,Ao A® Parker, G® R® Potter, Hicolai Rubinstein, Roberto Weiss, Age, of the Renaissance, ed® Denj s Hay, . (New York: McGraw-Hill "Book Company, 19^7), p» 38®

5® ROSS, OP® Cite,UPe 150-154C6e John Addington Symonds, A Short History of the

Renaissance ■ in Italy., ed® Lieut® Col® Alfred Pearson,7New fork: Henry Holt and Co®, 1894), pp® 160, 224®

3

Poliziano was to comment, "Athens has not been destroyed by the barbarians but has migrated to Florence»

In 1474, Botticelli returned from Pisa to Florence., and ^established close contact with Ficino, Poliziano, Landino, and thus became part of the circle of neo~platonlc humanists whose passionate philosophy suited so perfectly

. . . Ohis sensitive concept of the world®fSThere is no doubt that Botticelli6s spirit responded to the spell of Ficino8s neo-platonic speeches and that he lived for a long time a religious double life In which Christianity blended with Paganism®This happened to most people at that time? like them he acquired the art and taste for complicated mythological fantasies intermingled with allegories and symbolisms@9

It might be well to point out at this time thateven the Church felt that the newly rediscovered wisdom ofthe ancient world was not in conflict with Christianity for,as stated by Roberto Weiss,

It is important to remember that the humanists (as distinct from their reactionary opponents) saw no conflict between the New Learning and the authority of the Church« On the contrary, the new critical and linguistic techniques "were in their eyes tools for the elucidation of true Christian doctrine, while Platonic philosophy could only . Illuminate, never undermine, theologyc For, says Augustine, 8the true and highest good, according to Plato, is God; and therefore would he call him

? 6 Ross, OP o Cite, Pe 57<» .80 Dino Formaggio, Botticelli, (Hew Yorks Thomas

Yoseloff, 1961), p". 5,9« Ibld'o , P e 7 ®

4

a philosopher who loves God? for philosophy is directed to the obtaining of the blessed life, and he who loves God is blessed in the enjoyment of God® s10

This active group of thinkers and philosophers, these humanists of the Renaissance, dedicated their lives to discussing and translating the ancient authors and teaching the New Learning and gave expression to what Burckhardt terms the main object of the Platonic Academy$ "the reconciliation of the spirit of antiquity with that of Christianitye."^”' The neo-platonists conceived of the : Christian religion "as an eternal doctrine existing even before the advent of historical Christianity©"-^ It is, therefore, not surprising to find that numerous modern authors have made manifest "a Christian interpretation" of Botticelli fs allegorical works©13 However, these same authors have not elaborated on this general theme and have

10© Cantimori, et al», op© cit®, p© 120©11© The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy,

trans© S©G=C© Middlemore, (New York: Random House,1954), p© 377o

• 12© Giulio C§,rlo Argan, Botticelli, trans© JamesEmmons© (Lausannes Editions d fArt Albert*Skira, 1957)* p© 14©

13© Peter and Linda Murray, The Art of the Renaissance. (New York: Frederick A© Praeger, Publisher, ...19^3), P© "10; Argan, op^_clt. , p® 27-29* Pormaggio, pp.© cit©,p© 111 Eric Newton and William Nell. 2000 Years of Christian Art,, (New Yorks Harper and Row, 19667% p© 12B; H® .' .Gombrich, "Botticelli9s Mythologies: A Study in the Neo-Platonic Symbolism of his Circle," Journal of the Warburg- and Courtauld Institutes, vlli. (London, 1945FT P* 55© "%

not assigned specific schemata® It is the hope that in some small way this study might.offer suggestions that could help to fill in these lacunae.

In order to attempt to elucidate the dual meaning of the allegorical paintings of Botticelli, it will be necessary to employ the.: light shed by a knowledge of his cultural milieux. One must seek beneath the surface inspira­tions of myth, poetry and legend and the outward representa­tions of these in terms of easily recognizable gods and goddesses in order to find the underlying significance of these paintings. Just as■for the geologist, ultra-violet rays cause the true mineral to fluoresce, the application of the neo-platonic doctine may cause the latent Christian meaning of Botticelli8s symbolism to shine forth.

CHAPTER 2

BOTTICELLI8 S USE OF ALLEGORY. ' ' : . " ' 1 • Botticelli had a “deep religious faith1’. and “a

divided nature which could only find peace with itself In2a religious devotion® <.«<>“ As a Catholic painter, he

was intimately knowledgeable of his religion6s wealth of symbolism and of its dogmatic truths® As a member of the Medici circle, he would have been exposed to the concepts of the neo-platonists and humanists, who espoused the new “studla human!tatis” and were. in sympathy with the aim of the Platonic Academy: i«e®, the study of the ancient greatwriters of Rome and Greece as “the. noblest, vehicles of wisdom5’ and “an essential training for a full l i f e ® I t is doubtful that Botticelli would have experienced any difficulty in reconciling these.seemingly dissimilar motifs in his painting, for it must be remembered that “The humanists almost without exception continued to believe ina Creator, in the divine mission of Christ, in. the necessity

' " " ■ ' ■ hof sacraments and in ecclesiastical organization®11— - .

1® Venturi and Bosabianco Skira-Venturi, op® Pit®,p e 193°

2® Stephen Spender, Botticelli (1444-1510),(New York: Pitman Publishing "^rpofatlon^'T^ST, p, 4.

. 3* Cantimori, et al®, op® cite, p® 9®4® Iblde, p® 10®

7

In view of this, it seems highly improbable that Botticelli, being trained in the tradition of religious art and having painted religious works in the early part of

r"his career, should have abruptly turned his sensitive and religious nature completely away from Christianity and begun painting purely pagan works,, as his allegorical

zpaintings have been classified so often. Bad this been'the case, Botticelli then would not have been carrying outone of the prime missions of humanisms "the task of

' *Christianizing* the mysteries11 inherited from the world oflate antiquity,? by "the invention, the repetition of certainsymbols and emblems «, . ® appropriate to the expression of

8such an aspiration.19

5® Andre Chastel, Botticelli, (Greehwichs New York Graphic Society, 19^8), pp. Zff 2B, ^0, 37? Lionello Venturi, Botticelli. (Londons Phaldon Press, 1965), p. 9. PP° 71.72, list the following early religious paintingss Madonna and Child with St» John, c. 1470? Judith Returning to . Bethulia, c. 1470? Adoration of the Magi, c. T4?5r St. Sebastian, c. 1473=1474? Madonna of the Eucharist, c. 1475. and the religious frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, 1481-1482o

60 Cantimori, et al«, op. Git., pp. 24, 76? Roberto Salvini, All the Paintings of Botticelli, Part III, trans John Grillenzonie (New Yorks Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1965), pp. 98-102? Herman J. Wechsler, Gods and Goddesses in.Art. and Legend, (New York: . Washington Square Press, Tnc., l:9.6l) , pp. "29, "30? John Addington Symonds, Renaissance in Italy- The Fine Arts. (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 'l^T).pp. 182, 185f P.M. Godfrey, History of Italian Painting- 1250-1800, (New York: TapiInger'Publishing Co., Inc., T 965). pp. 127-129*

7® Cantimori, et al., op. eit., p. 146.• v eUKsnxBsyiewatMstoca y essMeiKcnKrieraaesiustireieism ¥

8@ Andre Chattel, THe Age of Hamanism™ERrope 1480™ 1530. trans. Katherine M.. 'Delavenay and E. M. Gwyer? (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1963), p. 17®

8

Perhaps the truth concerning these “paganH picturescan be best understood by a studied interpretation ofBotticelli es use of the symbol. After painting the Sistinefrescoes, Botticelli “cultivated a new type of allegory,entirely conceptual„ which finally coincided with thatindestructible unity of letter and spirit which we callsymbol»"9 The allegorical value of these works lies inthe union of “the antique and the Christian, a union to

10which e « o all humanism always tended,{iThe approach to a possible understanding of

Botticelli6s use of the symbolic allegory in his famousmythological paintings, is well put forward by PierreFrane&stel when he discusses Botticelli *s works:

L6essential, a mes yeux, serait que 18on reeonnaisse la necessite d8etudier les oeuvres de la peinture comme un systemex de signes et qu® on^y appliqu^ les methodes rigoureuses d8 inter­pretation qui ont assure le progres detant d8 autres sciences, II ne suffit plus de voir dans un tableau un sujet anecdotique, il faut scruter le me.canisme individuel et social qui 18a rendu lisible et effieaee» Une oeuvre d8art est un moyen d8 expression et de communication des sentiments^ou de la pensee® La psychologie du sign© s.e developpe dans tous les domaines®H

9e Argan, op®, clt,. p® 81® "10® Lionello Venturi., o p ® oit®, p® 18®11 o Peinture et Soclete «° Maissance et Destruction

deun Bspace Piastlque de la Renaissance au Cubisme7:(Lyons Audfn EditeurT 'MCMCl), p® 8%

9

Both the surface mythological and the underlying Christian meaning of Botticelli6s major allegorical paintings will be explored in terms of the ambivalent value of the symbols used..

CHAPTER 3

VENUS AND MARS

In the painting 'Venus' and Mars. ["Figure l] 1475*" 1478,^ or Co 1483-1486,2 Botticelli has presented an essentially simple composition in which the dominant theme is peace0 On the left side of the picture, the goddess Venus is sitting, contemplatively looking off into the distanceg At her feet reclines the god Mars,, deep in a quiescent sleep» The only jarring notes in this -pastoral symphony are provided by the playful group of four young mythological beings with the head and upper body of a human, and the legs of a goat, with two ■ small, horns growl­ing out of the top of the forehead, bristling hair, round and turned up nose's, pointed eyes and a tail like a goat® These young creatures of the woodlands were known to the Greeks as Satyrl and to the Romans as Fauni o

le Argan, QPo cite, p® 75; Ernest T® DeWald, Italian Painting. IZdb-lS’OO, (New Yorks Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, 1964), pe 279; Formggio, opo cit®. pi® XXVI0.

2, Chastel, Bqtticelli^ , p® 31l Formaggioopo_cltG , pie XXVI; Salvini, , , p« 127*

■ 3* Clara Clement Waters, A =&ndbo^j^LegeridaryESOzteolo£lca^Art,- (Boston and New York; - Houghton,. Mifflin and Company, 1890),p» 485; F, B» Webber, Church Symbolism, (Cleveland; J« H® Jansen, Publisher, 193877 p® 3780

10

In the upper center background, three of these small figures are portrayed holding* Mars0 lance. In the lower right hand portion of the picture, another young Satyr is emerging from a cuirass presumably doffed by the recumbent god. Of the three Satyri bearing the spear, the head of the one on the left is completely enveloped by Mars8 helmet, while the one on the right is blowing a conch shell into the ear of the unheeding god* The latter action brings to mind one of the ceiling frescoes executed by Correggio in: the vaulted chamber of the Camera dl S« Paolo in Parma for the Abbess Grovanna da Piacenza in 1518,^ portraying the god Pan, blowing a conch shell® [Figure 2] Pan, the god of flocks and herds, is identified, with Faunus or P&uni after the former was introduced into Italy and is represented with horns and goat8s feet®-* He was mischievous and greatly dreaded by mortals as the source of terror or some sudden fea.r without apparent cause or Panic®^

It is clear that the artist wished to accentuate the supernatural peace of the two main figures by portray­ing them as impervious to the distractions of the Satyri

4® Cantimori, et al®, op® cite, p® 148: DeWald,op* cite, p6 548b

5° Waters, op* clt®. pp® 446, 473® .6* Ibida, p® 446®EBsnsocB.ictoSira v . 0

13

Figure 2. The God Pan Blowing a Conch Shell

about themo Albrecht Durer, In his Meleneolla I £Figure 3]makes much the same use of the putto®?

The painting of Venus and Mars has been Interpretedby some authors as an allegory representing the romanticglorification of Simonetta Vespucci and Giullano de Medicisthe younger brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, based ona passage from the Stanze per la Giostra by Polizlanoe®

However, most art historians disavow the abovetheory and feel that the painting represents a passage inthe Commentary on the Symposium (V, 8) by Marsilio Ficino,giving an astrological interpretation of Venus and Marss

Mars is outstanding in strength among the planets because he makes men stronger, but Venus masters him 6 e o Venus, when in conjunction with Mars, in opposition to him, or watching from sextile or trine aspect, as we say, often checks his malig­nance e o o she seems to master and appease Mars, but Mars never masters Venus® ® ® ®9

"The meaning of the allegory can be summed up in the words sWhen love is awake, discord sleeps® T h e s e authors feelthat probably "it represents the development of a typicalneo-platonic theme, that of the allegory of Venus® Venus,

... .

7° Cantimori. et al® . op® cit® i p® 148.® ■8® DeWald, op® clt®, p® 279? Formaggio, op® olt®t

pi® XXVI and XXVIHi Salvlni, op® olt®, p® 127? GodfreyTop^it®, p® 127»

- , 9® Quoted in Gombrich, art®, clt®, p, 46? Formaggiom^clt®., ,p® 10? Ghastel, Bottlc^gJ. op®_cit®, p® 31; Lionello Venturi, op® clt®, p® 77? Salvlni, op® clt®, 127®

10® Lionello Venturi, op® "clt®«, p® 77®

15

Figure 3# Melencolla I by Albrecht Durer. (Detail)

16

seen as usual as the embodiment of knowledge, 1Human!tas,8and the symbol of Reason, Harmony and Civilization, hasconquered the sleeping Mars, symbol of war and violence®

" However, if these mythological symbols are. researchedfor a corresponding Christian meaning’ and applied to thispicture, the allegory appears to be of deep religioussignificance® "One of the traits characteristic of Sandro6sadherence to , the humanist poetics is his concern for figuresfrom ancient mythology, making of them religious visionsand bearers of the same symbolic Qualities as the figures

12in sacred art®" Through the use of mythological figures,Botticelli lias perhaps in this painting portrayed in neo~

: \Platonic language The Mourning Mothers La Pieta, arepresentation which when strictly rendered in Christianart, consists of only the Virgin and dead Christ, withlamenting angels occasionally introduced and "alwaysexpressing sorrow, resignation, tenderness, love andd i g n i t y ® "Usually the Son is in the-arms, on the lap,or lying at the feet of the Mother®11

11®. Formaggio, op_®._clt®, pi® XXVI and XXVIJ®'12® Chaste!, Botticelli, op® eit®-, p® 21®13® Waters, pp_®__.Git®, pp® 205, 206®^ Ibid®, p® 206®

17

Emile Male has beautifully expressed the truespirit of La Pieta when he writes:

In such a sceneB silence imposes itselfe After the horror.of the Passion/ the shrieks and out­rages of the multitude, Jesus rests at last in. the peace of half-light •<> «, • For now all is accomplished, nothing remains to be said or done e e e Withdrawn into themselves, the pro­tagonists seem to listen each to his own.heart . ® c © 15 . - -

Certainly that spirit prevails here in the picture ofVenus and.Mars ©

Much has been written of the similarity of Venus and the Virgin Mary in neo-platonic thought, and many writers have pointed out the physical likeness of the portrayals of Venus and Mary by Botticelli©-^ Gombrich states that "the many critics, who sensed the affinity of Botticelli’s Venus with his Madonnas were certainly right© » © "3.7

The figure of Venus in this painting is clothed in white, a liturgical color of the Christian Church, "which. has always been accepted as symbolic of innocence of soul,

15° Emile Male, Religious Art from the Twelfth to. the Eighteenth Century, (Mew Yorks Pantheon Books, Inc©,^' i^TTppTTzo, 121®

16® Gombrich, art© cit©. pp° 16-42; Chastel, .Botticelli, op© cite, p© 29; bionello Venturi, on © cit®,FT B : Porma«giS7 or. cit®. p. 10; Newton and NbllT 35, cit.p° 126; He...We Jans on. and Dora , Jane Jans on, History of Art. (Mew York; Harry M© Abrams, Inc©, 1963)., p©"3 5'i Salvinl, op cit©, p..,127; Fancastel© -op-®.- cit©, p© 117°

17° Gombrich, art© cit©, p© 41©

18

of purity, and of holiness of Ilf e « T h i s garment istrimmed in gold *» a symbol for divinity and g l o r y Herhair is long and flowing, and it was the custom in ancienttimes for unmarried women to wear their hair loose andlongo^O This is the reason that the Madonna and "thevirgin saints are frequently portrayed with long, flowingh a i r ® T h e pillow on which Venus is leaning her arm isred which is the second of the Christian liturgical colors,

22symbolizing blood, martyrdom, divine love and.suffering®It is of interest to note that when red is associated with the Virgin Mary, it designates her love for her Divine Son®23

j '

One has only to compare the face and body of. Christ In Botticelli *s Munich Pi eta, c. 1^00,^4 [Figures 4 and 5*]

18o Sister M® A® Justina Knapp, 0®S®B®, Christian Symbols and How to Use Them, (Milwaukee: The Bruce Pub”lishing Company, °W3S7, P® 9? George Ferguson, . Signs and Symbols in Christian Art, (New York: Oxford UniversityPressTT955)» P® 152$ Webber, op® cit®, p® 38?®

19® Knapp, op® cit®, p® 9? Ferguson, op® cit®,P® 153» William Smith, LL.D®, Smith8s Bible Dictionary,(New Yorks Pyramid Publications, Inc®, T!92>77$ P® 213®

20® Ferguson, op® cit®. p® 4?®21® Ibid®22® Knapp, op® cit®, p® 13$ Webber, op® cit®, p® 376

Ferguson, op® cit®, p® 152i Waters, op® cit®, p® 7®23® Knapp, op® cit®, p® 12®24® Formagglo, op® cit®, pi® LVIII; Argan, op® cit®

p® 121; DeWald, op® cit®. p® 286®

19

w ir" ^

Figure 5. Venus and Mars. Detail of the Head of Mars.

21

to that of Mars in the picture under discussion, to be immediately struck by the similarity <, Andre'’ Malraux states that the Virgin and the Christ 15in the Munich. Deposition .are not only symbols of the last phase of Botticelli8s art, but throw light on his early phase® . « ." 5 Both figures of Mars and Christ typify "the cult of physical beauty in humanistic F l o r e n c e B o t h are portrayed in recumbent positions with heads leaning backwards, eyes closed, clean­shaven faces and in the bloom of youth® There is a death­like quiescence in their facial expressions and in the limpness of their bodies® The position of the right hand in each picture is strikingly similar® Their hair appears to be of the same color and length® Both Christ and Mars are covered by a cloth thrown over their loins® In many ancient representations of the Crucifixion, the figure of Christ is clothed in. a robe or with a drapery from the hips to the knees, but "in the fourteenth century it is nothing more than a piece of. stuff, or linen, rolled around the lbins ® • « and up to the present time « ® * has been constantly thus represented®

25® The Voices of Silence, trans® .Stuart Gilbert® (Mew Yorks Doubleday and Co®, Inc®, 1953), P« 406®

26® Formaggio, pp®_cit®, p® 10®27o Adolphe Napoleon Didron, Christian Iconography,

Vol® 1, trans® E® J® Millington® (Londons George Bell and Sons, 1896), p® 260®

22

In Botticelli *s painting of Venus and Mars, the figure of Mars is lying on a $sre3. roheo^S This color appears to be the 58Amaranth red, ” a color of purplish hue used in the Roman C h u r c h . ^9 In Christian symbolism,"the scarlet or purple robe is one of the emblems of Christ8s suffering » .. [and is] one ©f the symbols of the Passion of our Lords

The underlying Christian schemata of Venus and Mars probably has been overlooked because of the current, commonly accepted characterization of the god Mars e Botticelli would certainly never have presented:Christ, the Prince of Peace, in the guise of Mars, the god of ware To do so would have been unreasonable and perhaps even sacrilegious» Botticelli, with his neo-platonic background, would have been conversant with all the ancient- attributes of Mars<> Waters has this to say: "Next to Jupiter Mars wasthe highest god at Rome • *. * He was one of the three tutelary deities „ » c In each character he has an appro =*. priate name. As war god, he is Gradlvus, as rustic god,*• v «y«iMMS t*SS153>aUiEOi=tSao9t!VS3 V «

Sllvanus, and as civil god, Qulrinus, "31 Mars "ms certainly

28e Adolf Paul Oppe^ Sandro Botticellif. (New York and London: Hodderand and Stoughton,^nTdTTT p, 51®

29® Rev® Henry J« McCloud, A® B®, Clerical Dress and' Insignia- of the Roman Catholic Church, Milwaukee:' “The Bruce Publishing Company,' 19^81, p® 44®

30® Ferguson, op® clt®, p® 179®31® Qp..®—Pito, p® 465®

23

a .war*»god9: but It is equally certain that war was not his 'only function ® « o what kind Mars began with no one cansay at this date* especially as the problem is complicatedby the ancients8 habit of identifying him with the GreekAres, who was nothing more than a war^god, a divine swash™buckler® t?32 »Once the notion became general that he [Mars]was simply Ares under • another..name, his wider functions wereso lost that it is only in quite recent times that anyattention has been paid them® f<33 jn his little treatise onagriculture, Cato the Censor (234-149 B®Ce), one of theoldest authorities, describes a Mvow for the health of thecattle81 which is directed to Mars SIlvarras and a prayer tothis same god for the lustration of the fields®

It is quite long and explicit, and instead of praying, as one would expect if Mars was a god of war, ® ® ® the farmer asks him to ward off••diseases visible and invisible, “ bad weather, andother things which have little or nothing to do with war and its ravages, and to grant health to all who work on the farm® Nevertheless, his war­like functions are abundantly attested by his festivals and the nature of other deities associ­ated with him ® ® ® We must therefore supposethat he was simply one of the great powers in which the Italian peoples trusted,their mighty protector and helper in both war and peace® The stormy history of early Rome is reason enough

32® Ho J® Rose, ReiigIqn^n..G^eepe.land_Rome, (Mew York; Harper & Row, Publisher, 1959)» p® 210®

33® Ibid ®e p o 215®3't. IMd-, P- 210.

24

for Mars8 s warlike activities to have become strongly emphasised e «- » on occasion not only he and other gods but so unlikely a power as Juno was thought to be capable of leading the State to battleE or defending it by force of armse35

Sir James George Frazer, inThe Golden Boughs states:

* » « Now Mars was originally not a god of war but of vegetation® For it was to Mars that the Roman husbandman prayed for the prosperity of his corn and his vines, his fruit-trees and his copsess it was to Mars that the. priestly college of the Arval Brothers, whose business It was to sacrifice for the growth of the crops, addressed their petitions almost exclusively; and It was to Mars . « o that a horse was sacrificed in October to secure an abundant harvest® Moreover, It was to Mars, under his title of $Mars of the.Woods5 (Mars Silvanus)* that farmers offered sacrifice for the welfare of their cattle® Me have already seen that cattle are commonly supposed to be under the special patronage of tree-godse3b.

Thus it appears that the Roman god Mars, with i9nohint that he is warlike ® himself, had prayers offeredto him from the people for deliverance from the.perils and evils of war, for abundant crops and healthy stock-breeding and for the welfare of the citizens of R o m e =37

From the beginning of the Christian Church, supplica­tions have been made to Jesus Christ which parallel those

35® Rose, eb..» elt»„ p® 211,3oe r (New York: The Macmillan Companiy, 19&3)»

p, 669®37® Rose, op^eito, p» 215; Waters, ^i^cit®,

P® 465* - .

25

offered to Mars "by the ancient Romans => Christ, Himself, was not warlike, but men on the battlefields have directed prayers to Him to give them victory over their enemies and to protect theme In The Standard Book of Common Prayer, one finds the following prayersi •

In Time, of War and Tumults0 Almighty God, the supreme'Governor of all things, whose power no creature is able to resist, to whom it belongeth justly to.punish sinners, and to be merciful to those who truly repentj Save and deliver us, we humbly beseech thee, from the hands of our. enemiesi that we, being armed, with thy defence, may be preserved evermore fiiom all perils, to glorify thee, who art the only giver of all victoryi through the merits of they Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen*

For the Army0 Lord God of Hosts, stretch forth, we pray thee, thine almighty arm to strengthen and protect the soldiers of our country<. Support them in the day of battle, and in the time of peace keep them safe from all. evil; endue them with courage and loyalty? and grant that in all things they may. serve with­out reproach; through Jesus Christ our Lord*Amen*38

Throughout all the history' of the Christian Church, prayers have been offered to Jesus Christ for His blessing on the lands and the harves ts *

For Fruitful SeasonsAlmighty God, who hast blessed the earth that it should be fruitful and bring forth whatsoever Is

38* The Standard Book of Common Prayer and Adminis- t rat ion of th e Sa cramentTai^lther^i^r%f' aHd=W r ”emonIi7 of the Church, ed» John Wallace Suter, (New Yorks liarper and Brothers, 1952), p* 41»

26

. ' needful for the life of man, and hast commanded us to work with quietness,, and eat. our own bread;Bless the labours of the husbandman, and grant such seasonable weather that we may gather in the fruits of the earth, and ever rejoice in thy goodness, to the praise of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our horde Amen=39

Prayers have been offered to Christ, without ceasing for thewelfare of the people®

- A Prayer for all Conditions of Men0 God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations® More especially we pray for thy holy Church universal; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of . spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life® Finally, we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those who are any ways afflicted, or distressed, in mind, body, or estate; that it may please thee, according to their several necessities; giving them patience under their suffering, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions® And this we beg for Jesus Christ6s sake® A m e n ®40

From Frazer's chapter entitled, "The Human Scapegoatin Ancient Home," the author states additional Informationconcerning Mars Silvanus:

Every year on the fourteenth of March a man clad in skins was led in procession through the streets of Home, beaten with long white rods, and driven out of the .city® He was .called Mamurius Veturlus, that is, 'the old Mars6, and as the ceremony took place on the day preceding the first full moon of

39® Ibid®, p® 39® 40® Ibid®. p® 19®

27

the old Roman year (which began on the first of March), the skln^clad man must have represented the Mars of the past year, who was driven out at the 'beginning.of a new one® Now Mars was orig­inally not a god of war but of vegetation* • • e."Once more, the consecration of the vernal month of March to Mars, seems. to point him out as. the. deity of the sprouting vegetation® Thus the Roman•custom of expelling the old Mars at the beginning of the new year in spring is identical

: With the Slavonic custom of 6carrying out Death8» o •« However, in the Roman, as in the Slavonic ceremony,' the representative of the god appears to have been treated not only as a deity of vegetation but also as a scapegoat® His expulsion implies this? for there is no reason why the god of vegetation, as such, should be expelled the city® But it is otherwise if he is also a scapegoat? it then becomes necessary to drive him beyond the boundaries, that he may carry his sorrowful burden away to other lands

One cannot but be struck both by the similaritybetween the ritual flailing of Mars Sllvanus through thecity, and the Via Dolorosa of Christ,^ and by the fact thatthe date of the former event was determined by the firstfull moon of the Roman year in March, and of the latterby .the first full moon after the vernal equinox® Perhapsthese very similarities Influenced Botticelli8s choice ofMars as a representation of Christ®

The custom of a scapegoat who would be sacrificedfor the people to rid them of their evils and sins waswell-known in antiquity® That Christ was a scapegoat for

oltV. pp. 669, 6?0®

Revised Standard Version, ed® Herbert G® May and Bruce M® Metzger, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965),John 19$1 and Mark 15:15*

28

all humanity and died for mankind8s salvation, is a well- known tenet of the Christian religion., nAfter the three years of His ministry the time was come for Christ to offer His life as atonement to God for the sins' of mankinde This was the purpose for which He had become incarnate®"The abasement of Christ on Calvary is the shining hour of Christendom for it is the supreme act of love by which the God-man redeemed man from God® ■ The Mew Adam offered satis­faction not only for the sin of Adam but for all sins of all man®11

As has already been remarked„ Botticelli appears to .have made apparent, a deliberate contrast between the quiescent main figures in his painting Venus and Mars„ and the noisy, lively Satyri which in Christian iconography are a "symbol of the children of the d e v i l ® O n e is tempted to believe that in the Christian interpretation of his allegory, Botticelli wishes to represent La Hieta and her dead Son, and to symbolize the totality of the victory of Christ over the evils of this worlds Mary, the Mother of God, sits in quiet contemplation, heedless of her

^3® Catholicism, ed® George Br&ntl, Ph®L, PheD®, nihil obstat, John A® Gbodwine, J®C®D®, imprimatur, Francis Cardinal Spellman® (Mew forks ' Washington Square Press,Ino, 1965)5. p« 9 ® •

Ibido.. p® 95®45® Webber, op® cit®. p® 378®

29

surroundings® Christ lies at her feet, deaf to the din ofthe enemies of God, as a. constant reminder to all mankinds

. e <, e Thou go net, like the quarry=»sla'r@ at night,Scourged to his dungeon, hut, sustained and soothed By an unfathering trust, approach thy grave Like one who wraps the drapery of M s couch About him and lies down to pleasant, d r e a m s ®^6

The Satyri"-are playing with the spear that pierced Christ8sside and don the habilements of the Empire that caused Hisdeath® One Satyr is even impudent enough to blow into the- dead ChrisbTs ear, as if to accentuate His deadness, andto dare Him to fulfill His promise of His resurrectionand "the future resurrection of man and of his immortality® " '7The viewer is reminded of the noise and clamor caused bythose who today claim that God is dead, in contrast tothem of whom it has been said;

Along the cool sequestered vale of life . They kept the noiseless tenor of their way®

46o William Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis,83 American Poetry and Prose, ed© Norman Foerster, (Bostons Houghton^ Mifflin Co©, 1962), p© 353®

>?© Brantl, pp©_cit©, p© 100©48© Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Church”

yard, " British Poetry and Prose, V o l ed© Paul Bobert Lieder, . RdSert Morss^EovaEF^i^nSbberl Kllburn Boot, .(Bostons Houghton, Mifflin Co©, 1950), .p© 849®

CHAPTER 4

' PRIMAVERA

Onoe one has accepted the underlying Christian mean­ing of one of Botticelli8s allegorical works, Venus and Mars, then the latent Christian schemata of Prlmavera, c® 147?"1478,^ [Figure 6], becomes easier to apprehends There does not. appear to be any other possible Christian interpretation of this painting than that of The Last Judgments

"In the Middle Ages, classical myths had at times been interpreted didactically, however remote the analogy, as allegories of Christian p r e c e p t s * However, it was for the neo~platonic philosophers in Florence "To fuse the Christian faith with ancient mythology, rather than merely relate them* » » >,"3 %n the visual language'of art, Botticelli interwove the classical myths and the Christian

1* Argan, ^_cit«, p. ?0s Andre Chastel, Art„et Humanism© a Florence au temns de Laurent le Magnlflane, "(ParisPresses Universitaires de France, 1961), P* 173$. Lionello Venturi, op.o cite, p® 13$ Salvlnl, op® cit*, p® 64$ De Wald, op* citt^p* 2?8$ Formaggio, op® oljb»;.p> 9».

2®. Janson, op® clt®. p® 3^5*•3e Ibid®

30

; - i l ' f : >» . t i n . ««'? '. (< ' "& ! ’>*» M i - f t m *rtyjn *" v.

Figure 6. Prlmavera.

32

truths, expressing to perfection, the credo of the neo- platonlstse^

The central figure of this painting Primavera, or the. Realm of Venus as it is often titled, is a standing, sublimely poised young woman, -modestly clad in a long white gown trimmed in goldo Over her bent right arm between the shoulder and the oenter of the forearm, and falling to her waist where it is supported against her side by her left hand, is a long flowing mantle, red on one side and blue on the reverse, which trails to the ground to the right of her gold sandeled feet* On her head is a golden chaplet which"supports a diaphanous white veiling which covers, but fails to conceal, the blondness of her hair as both fall almost to her waist6

Her back is slightly turned toward a young, light-* haired, flower bedecked girl who, strewing before her with her right hand flowers from a pocket formed by her left hand out of a fold of her gold-sleeved ankle-length gown heavily decorated with floral patterns seems to stride toward the center of the picture completely oblivious to the supplicating hands of the thinly draped, blond, bare- footed young woiiBn who appears to clutch out for support,

Cantlmorl, et al». op* cite, p® 1 5 5» Lionello Venturi, op* cite,'p. 1?? Chaste!Botticelli, ope. cite, p e 21; Gombrich, art cite, p«. ? e

33

as she lunges.forward, holding In her teeth, a crumbling branch of roses while turning her head and fear-stricken eyes backward and upward toward a menacing winged figure with dark skin, cloak and hair«.

The right hand of the central figure is raised towards three thinly clad young maidens, who stand bare­footed, as if posed, in a circle with their hands inter­locked in an undulating spiral® On the far left of the picture, with his back half turned■towards the three light- haired dancers; stands a young man with left shoulder and upper torso bare„ Over his right shoulder is draped a red' cloak which is held together by his left hand, resting casually on his hip, before terminating midway on his thighs. Also encircling his right shoulder is a thin strap which supports a sword, the hilt of which hangs just forward of his left hand® On his feet are a pair of open-toed, calf-length leather boots, each supporting a wing® His ' upraised head, .supporting a small, pointed metal helmet atop a mass of thick, russet locks,, seems to look along his up­raised right hand to the staff bearing two entwined serpents, which he thrusts into the cloud-ridden orange-bearing flowering herbage above®

Surrounded on both sides by this strange combination of flower and fruit on the trees, at the top of the picture and directly above the central figure, is a young, nude,

3^

tltian~haired$, winged boy, whose eyes are covered by a white bandage» Over his right shoulder is draped a red quiver of arrows« Facing downward, with his body horizontal and his feet out-stretched toward the left of the picture,.he is holding a bow at the end of his outstretched left hand, into which a flaming arrow has been notched« With his right hand, he is drawing back the bow, seemingl,y in pre­paration to loosing the arrow into the midst of the three dancing maidens, who remain oblivious to his Intente

Numerous interpretations have been given in attempts to explain the meaning of this painting. Many art historians believe that Botticelli took the theme from Poliziano’s Stanzas, written for the Medici tournament sponsored in 1475 by Lorenzo de* Medici in honor of his younger brother Giuliano? especially Stanze 1;

A realm where grace takes delightwhere all .sensuality is behind Flora, /

' Zephyr flies and.the green grass blossoms.^These authors feel that it symbolizes 13the romantic legendof Giuliano de$ Medici$s love for the beautiful Genoese -

6Simonetta Vespucci. •This painting has also been connected withMarsilio

Ficino‘s letter c. 1477=0. 1480, to his young pupil, Lorenzo

5» Quoted by Chastel, Botticelli, op., clt.. p. 29$ DeWald, op. cit.. p® 276$ Spender, op® cit.. p. 5f Godfrey, op® olt.. p» 128$ Balmond Van’Marie,, The Benalssance Painters of Florence. Vol. 12, (The Bagues Martinus Nijhoff, 1931), p.82®

6. Formaggio, op..cit.. p. 9=

35

&i Pier franeesco de8 Medici, Botticelli6s patron, “in which he states that he hopes Lorenzo will find in his devotion to Venus the principles of perfect human!tas„ the equilibrium of all his talents.Flclno believed that all mankind,“was linked to God by a spiritual circuit continuously ascending and descending, so'that all revelation, whether from the Bible, Plato, or classical myths, was one. Similarly, he proclaimed that beauty, love, and beatitude, being phases of this same circuit, were one.51® Thus, this belief of Picinoes, based on the works of Plato, made it possible for the neo-platonists to “invoke the ^celestial Venus5 . ... interchangeably with the Virgin Mary, as the source of 'divine love8 (meaning the cognition of divine beauty). This celestial Venus, according to Ficirio' dwells purely in the sphere of Mind, while her twin, the ordinary.Venus, engenders 'human love8. This meaning, of Venus..Humanltas is adhered to by many modern authors

: The late Professor Warburg has been able to “demonstrate that several details in the painting reveal

7. Chaste!, Botticelli, on. cit., p. 29.8. Janson. op. cit.. p. 3 5®9« Ibid.10. Gombrieh, art. cit., no. 13-22; Pormaggio,

op. cit.. p. 10? Murray, op. cit.. p. 10; Chastel, Art et Humani sme a Flo rence. op .""cit.. pp. 173, 1?4; Salvliii „ ep."cit.. p. ■

36

• evident analogies with the writings of Lucretius *1,11 It isinteresting to note the surprising similarity of the pictureto the following poem of Lucretiuss

Spring-time and. Venus come $ and Venus8 boy,'■ The winged harbinger, : steps on before, •And hard on Zephyr8 s foot-prlnts Mother Flora,Sprinkling the ways before them, filleth all With colours and with odours excellent;12

While Gombrioh believes that the central theme of . Primavera is Venus-Humnitas, inspired by Fioino, his explanation is that its ^possible source is a description of the Judgment of Paris which occurs in the Golden Ass byApuleiuse“ 3

Despite the variety of the interpretations of Primavera,, the pagan characterizations of the figures have been generally agreed upon® Beginning at the far left of the picture appears Mercury, then the Three Graces, with Venus in the center with her son Eros above her head, followed by Flora and her daughter, Ghloris, who is being seized by Zephyr on the far right

11® Van Marie, op® cit®, p® 82®12® Of The Mature of Things® trans® William Ellery

Leonard® (lew YorkT- "I® P® Dutton and Company, Inc® -,; 195?)« Book V, 737-?^0®

13® Ar&_Cit®, p® 22®14® Van Marie, op® clt®, pp® 83=86; Edgar Wind,

Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance® (New Haven$ Yale University PreisT 1 9 W T P P * 101-108; Chastel, Botticelli, op® clt® „ p® 291 Sal v ini., op® clt®, p® 64; Lionello Venturi, op®" oft®, p® 131 FormaggioT■,op.®:_gl.t® , P® 9 i DeWald, op^cit® ,

- p® 2?6; Godfrey, op® clt®. p® 128; Argan, PP±_ciA®> P P ® 2?, 103; Spender, op® clt®, p® 10®

In order; to substantiate the underlying Christianmeaning of Primavera. it- is of paramount ■ Importance thatthe figure of Cupid be understoode As was the oase of Mars,the current,, commonly accepted characterization of Cupidhas beclouded his original imagee Today, he Is usuallydescribed as follows $ ** Cupid (Eros), the god of love ® ® eson of Venus ® ® « [and] her constant companion? and, armedwith bow and arrows, he shot the darts of desire into thebosoms of both gods and men® Or ssEros « Cupid, Amor®God of Love® He was a.boy full of tricks and troubled godsand men alike®f5 He reputedly had two kinds of arrowssgolden which kindled love and black, generally leaden, whichproduced the opposite e f f e c t C u p i d was usually portrayedin art as a little winged boy and often shown with his eyes

18covered as one who is blind® Waters also states that the little god was usually with M s mother, Venus,^ as does

15® Bulfinch," Thomas, The Age of Fable« ed® IM.niel B® Dodson, (Greenwich! Fawcett Publications, Inc®, 1965), p® 3,6® . • -

16« Waters, op® cit®, p® 445®17® .Erwin Panofsky. Studies in loonology* (New York

Oxford University Press, ■ 193977“P° 12*0; Waters, op® cit®,P 6 44.5 ®

18® Wind, op® olt®, pp® 56, 57» 104; Panof sky, -■ PP^cjt®, pp® 95, 1251 Waters, o^jeit®, -p. 445®

19® Op® eit®, p® 445®

38

Wechsler, who also adds that Cupid8s evil arrows “arousedthe reverse feeling of hate and antipathy®“20 This character-iza'tipn-. of-'Cupid was invariably portrayed by the later Greekpoets, depicting him always as the son of "Venus and as “amischievous, naughty boy, or worse”$ -

Evil his heart, but honey sweet his tongue®Mo truth in him, the rogue® He is cruel in

M s play®Small are his tends, yet his arrows fly far

as death® rTiny his shaft, but it carries heaven-higho Touch not his treacherous gifts, they are

dipped in fire.21This image of Cupid was in direct contradiction to

the early accounts of Eros who was not Aphrodite6s son and originally had nothing whatever to do with her®^ He was a god who came into existence without p a r e n t a g e I n Greek mythology, Eros was the most important deity in heaven besides the twelve great Olympians and according “to Hesiod o o ® Fairest of the deathless g o d s ® ”2^

20® Op® Glto, p® 30o21® Edith Hamilton, Mythology. (New York and Torontos

The Mew American Library*. IncT7l9^2T7 p® 36®. 22® Bose, 02®__clt., p® 53; Hamilton, pp^_cl_t., p® .36,23®. Elizabeth E® Goldsmith. Life Symbols. (Mew York

and London: G® P® Putnam8s Sons, 1928lT™p°"^67®24® Hamilton, op® cit®. p® 36®

39

Plato, in his Symposium, describes the god of Love as as- mighty god, and wonderful among gods and men » « = he walks not upon the earth, • « « but in. the hearts and souls of mens in them he walks and dwells and has his home o ' Not in every soul with*** out exception, for where there is hardness he departs .» = « his greatest glory is that he can :neither do nor suffer wrong from any god or anymani for he suffers not by force if he suffers, for force comes not near him, neither does he act by forcee For all serve him of their own free will o « 0 he whom love touches not walks in darknesso25

The fable of Cupid and Psyche was first told byApuleius, a Latin writer in the second century, A»Do, and

p/Cis generally considered allegorical 0 “The Greek name for a butterfly is Psyche, and the same word means the soul • •. .Psyche, then, is the human soul, which is purified by suffer­ings and misfortunes, and is thus prepared for the enjoyment of true and pure happinesso*62? Eros, in this allegory, may be “an image of the genius that, personifies the divine or immortal part of the human soul*1 in death, with the allegory representing the “close and mystic alliance of the human soul and divine genius reunited by a kind of hypostatic union - Eros being the vital form, the loving and divine principle

25® The Republic and Other Works, trans® B®. Jowette (Hew Yorks Doubleday and Company, I n c "1960), pp® 326,3 0, 341*

26© Bulfinclu on© clt©. pp© 87, 88s Adolphe Napoleon Didron, Christian 1conogranhyJ Vol© II, trans© E© J© Millington, ed© Margaret-" Stokes© (Londons George Bell and Sons, 1891), PP« 1?4, l?5s Wind, op©, clt©,- pp© 62, 125 note, ' 134, 135, 145, 146©

27© Bulflnoh, op© cite, p©.88© : ' • ■

spread throughout the universe, and. animating each being = Eros the mysterious link between humanity and d i v i n i t y ^ $$28.

. This Eros funebre as 8ia power that loosens or breaksthe chains which bind the soul to the body” 9 nas beenthought to be one and the same with the gentle, peacefulwinged Thanafcos, the genius of Death in, Greek mythologyo30There have been found on a.Roman gem and on a fresco in thecatacomb of Praxtextatus, two images of Death that arehardly distinguishable from Eros»31

It Is noteworthy that on ancient Roman sarcophagi,variations on the theme of "the love of a god for a mortal”appear frequently,32 The Renaissance humanists believedthis to means

The kind of death 8most highly approved and com= mended both by the sages of antiquity and by the authority of the Bible [was] when those „ yearning for God and desiring to be conjoined with him (which cannot be achieved in this prison of the flesh) are carried away to heaven and freed from the body by a death which is the profoundest sleep? in which manner Paul desired to die when he said: I long to be dissolved and be with Christ . « <

28«, Dldron, SEi-£2i£*» P» .175* 29•• Wind, 6&&_^it., p» 133.30e Dldron, opo cite, p» 155«31 «> IMd. 1 yv .32® Wind,- op® .cit®, p« 130®33® Ibid. pp, 130 i. 131. . .

41

In all of the variety of mythological funerary images . t$» e o Death appears as communion with a god through Love e o o18-^ The third century philosopher of Alexandria, Plotinus, one of the 1188Platonlei8Si, whose esoteric writing's were translated and 88co-ordinated81 "by .Fleinb 88into the entire cultural h e r i t a g e , 1855 makes i t clear that 88he hoped to unite with the Godhead as 8one to one888 after d e a t h s 3

Plato states through the person, of Agathon. in his Symposiumi 11 that Love is the eldest and noblest and might­iest of the gods, and the chiefest author and giver of happiness and virtue, in life and after death,8137 piato further says of the god of Loves

® o «, he is the god who8Gives peace ©n earth and calms the stormy deep,

i who stills the waves and bids the sufferer sleep®8In every word, work, wish, fear - pilot, helper,defender, savior; glory of gods and.men, leader best and brightests in whose footsteps let every man follow, chanting a hymn and joining in that,fair strain with which love charms the souls ofgods and men.38 v

In the story of Alcestis and Orpheus in this same work,Plato makes clear his

Ibid., p. 134. "35° Panofsky, op* clt.. pe 130=360 Mind, op® cit®. p® 134®37° Os^dit®, p® 327°

. 38° Ibid., PP. 341, 342®

42

Platonic theory of love as the key to a philo®- sophy of death « e » ‘Alcestis did achieve theperfection of love because she wanted to go to the beloved through death? and,dying through love* she was by. the grace of the. gods revived. »... «. «And Plato could not have . suggested'.this, more , . lightly , or subtly than by the example he gave of Orpheus, of whom he says that* desiring to go and see the beloved Eurydiee, he did not want to go there through death* but* being softened and refined by his music, sought a way of going there alive, and for this .reason*, says-* Plato* he could not reach the true Eurydiee * but beheld only a shadow or spectre * e839

Plato enlarges on this theory of love and death and the will­ingness to give up one's life for the love of another, again in his Symposium: • •

Now Achilles was quite aware, for he had been': told by his mother* that he might avoid death and return home* and live to a good old age* if he abstained from slaying Hector® Nevertheless he gave his life to revenge his friend* and dared to die* not only on his behalf* but after his death® Wherefore the gods honored him even above Alcestis and sent him to the Islands of the Blest®40

• The Christian God of the New Testament is also theGod of Love® In Matthew, 22:37-40, Jesus said:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul* and with all your mindo This is the great and first commandment®And a second is like it* you shall love your neighbor as yourself® On these two commandments depend all the law and the.prophets®"

In John 3sl6* God's love for man is shown: "For God soloved the world that he gave his only Son* that whoever

39o Wind* op® clt®« pp® 132, 133*O^cito* p® 32?,

>3

believes in him should not perish but have eternal lifee,!In John .■15s9a,13s Christ say si

- nAs the Father- has. loved me-, so have I loved you; abide in my love o If you-keep my eoiaraandments e you will abide in my love* just as I have kept my Father8s commandments and abide in his love*These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full* This

■ is my commandment, that you love one another as I havd loved you? Greater love has no man that this, that a man lay down.his life for his friendsoM

Concerning love.,and death, one of the basic tenetsof the Christian faith is that ^Those who die in the loveand friendship of God enjoy forever the face-to-facevision of G©&<> . The souldand God are united in an act ofloves vision fills the mind, love, engages.the will, thereIs born perfect and. unceasing joy in union with the supremeGood for which all nature yearns©$8

It is not unreasonable to suppose that Botticelliwould have used the platonic god of Love, Cupid (Eros) torepresent Jesus Christ, as the Judge of the Last Judgment,in his painting Prlmavera© In John 5$22, Christ declared"for the Father judgeth no man but hath committed alljudgment to the Son," not divesting Himself of His power,but judging through the Son; therefore the Son judgeth bythe will of the Father; for the wills of the Father and theSon are not different, but one and the same, as.in theHoly Trinity© "For-there is one Person of the Father,

■ 4t© ■ Brant!, op© cA't©, pp© 264, 265©

4-4

another of the Song another ©f the Holy Ghoste But the Godhead of the P&ther, of the Son* and of the Holy GhostIs all one » » ■ Such as the Father ls» such Is the Son,,and such is the Holy G h o s t o I n Matthew 25$32”33» •Christ des eribes how mankind will be judged $ 13 And before Him allnations shall be gathered togetherr and He. shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep on his right hand, and the goats ©n His left,33 By plaeing a bandage over the eyes of Cupid, it is probable that Sottieelli wished to show that the judgment- was influenced not by the images which the retina transmits tothe brain, but rather by what the mind of God can see inthe hearts of men, for in Luke 16$15, Christ says? "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts? for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God,33 .. - -

Once Cupid in Botticelli6s allegorical painting has been identified.with Christ, then the purpose and target of the flaming arrow become apparent® The Three Graces become the Saved, possessing the three 33Theological Virtues39$Faith, Hope and Love, "So faith, hope, love abide, these three? but the greatest of these is lov@e18 (1 Coro 13)The arrow In Christian iconography "is generally used to

42 e IMde, p* 69*C5S5B2S»SAtCSXqr V + ,

43*. Ferguson,--, op-q • p® .101.

45

suggest a spiritual weapon, dedicated to the service of Godes$44 Thus the flaming arrow of Cupid in this picture represents the Divine fervor and love of the soul®^Bernini has portrayed a "beautiful example of the use of the arrow of God in his sculptural work of The Ecstasy of Santa,. Teresa„ 1645=1652, over the altar in the Gornara.Chapel of the Church of Santa Marla della Vittorla in Romeo^

To the'left of the Saved, in the painting Primavera» stands the pagan god Mercury or Hermes, who in mythology was the Messenger of his. father, Zeus or Jupiter, was "by tradition ♦ . e 6 the leader of the Graces 8 ,65 and he wasalso the solemn guide of the dead who led the Souls totheir last home in the B e y o n d A s the "divine herald,11 escorting the souls of the dead. Mercury has "the titlepsyohopompas. (Guide of Souls)® "^ {’Figure 7] In representa­tions in art, he is shown "as a graceful young man with intelligent and kindly features,perfectly developed in mind and body® He wears a sword and the 818 sword-bearing

44® Ibid®, p® 170o45o Waters, o£®_cit®, P» 5*

. 46® Filippo Baldlnuoei, The Life of Bernini, trans®Catherine. Bnggas.Se (University Parks' The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1966), p® 21®

47® Wind, op® cit», p® 106®48® Bose, on® elt®. p® 62®49 ® Ibid » ; P® 98® '

46

Figure ?• Mercury Conducts Psyche to Olympus.A fresco in the Famesina Palace, Rome by Raphael and his School.

4?

Mercury8 is a mediaeval and Renaissance commonplace» On his head, he wears a hat or helmet, sometimes winged and on his feet he wears sandals with wings at the ankles, and carries in his hand, a staff or rod with two serpents entwined called the eadueeuso^ $8As conductor of the dead he always carries the caduceus with, the two emblematic serpents, symbols of life® In the earlier works of art Hermes was depicted with * the magic staff [which] laterdeveloped into the c a d u c e u s » 1 5 %t is in this character of shade°=leader that Botticelli has portrayed this god in Primavera« Mercury appears to be probing dark, stylized .clouds directly above his head, with his caduceus® Virgil, in The Aeneid, describes this very action of Mercury:

Then he took his wand; the wand which he calls the pale souls forth from the Nether World and sends others down to grim Tartarus, gives sleep, and takes sleep away, and unseals eyes at death® . .So shepherding the winds before him with his wand, he swam through the murk of the cloudse53

It is noteworthy that in Christian ieonology, the. role of escort of the souls of the dead is assigned to the Archangel Michael, who "leads souls into the presence of

50 « Wind , pp.®.; cl t o, p , ?4, note 1, 51o Bulfinch,, o p ^ c i t ® p ® 16,52® Goldsmith, one cit®, pe 372®53® Trans« W® P® Jackson Knight® (Baltimorei Penguin Books Inc®, 1964), IV, 240=245® V

48

tr/j 'God»$]| v “In all representations of .St© Michael, the lead.trig Idea e '* o Is the same© He Is young' and.beautiful, but f severe In youthful beauty, 8 as one who. .carries ©n a per- , petual contest with the powers of e v i l © “55 He wears a sword as a warrior for protection of the Souls,..being “assigned the reception of the immortal spirits when released by death© “56 jj© is portrayed with wings' as they “are the symbol of divine mission©“ 7 An existing engraving by Marco di Bavenna, designed by Baphael, shows St© Michael wearing “a helmet, and classically drapedj he stands in anattitude of repose © © © one hand rests on the pummel ofhis sword, the other holds the lance©”58 it is In his role “As lord of souls, conductor and guardian of the spirits of the dead,”59 that St© Michael becomes a suitable replace­ment for Mercury, the shade-1eader©

54© Didron. Vol* II, op© clt©, p© 181©55e Mrs© Anna Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art,

Vol© 1, (Boston and New Yorks - Houghton, Mifflinland Company 1857), PPo 103, 104©

5^® Ibid©, p © © .57® Ferguson, op© .clt©, p© 46©58© Jameson, op© clt©. p© 109©59© Itdd©, p© 97©

“Me de Maury , . * has shown that St» Michael ofChristian iconography takes the place of Mercurjr in ancientrepresentations ® «. e

A gem engraved by Chifflet shows Mercury » « »He holds a great cadueeus and wears a winged petasus e o e The name MICHAEL is engraved upon the stonee Two Hebrews letters traced upon the field form the word Ath0 signifying time®This word appears to*"be an allusion to future judgement » 6 thus Mercury standing for ..Michael ® ® ® of the Last Judgment ® e e e As Mercury was also. shade®leader8 so Michael . leads souls into the presence of God® On an agate onyx in the collection of the Duke of Orleans published by Abbes de la Chaud and le Blond$ vel® 1, fig® 23$ Hermese holding the caduceus in one hand8 is seen to lift the soul from the tomb in the other® Again* on gems in the Uzielli collection published by G® We King* Hermes leads souls to Charon, or, by virtue of his wand, raises souls from the shades®6X [Figure 8]

The practice of dedicating rocks and high places 'to'St* Michael was a common practice in the early Christian Churchs “The Skelig Michel off the west coast of Ireland, St® Michael8s Rock off the shore of Cornwall, Mont St® Michael off the coast of Brittany, are instances of this custom® e' e 0 it62 churches have been erected to St®Michael on these lofty isolated rocks and mountain peaks, a tradition due to the recorded apparitions of the Archangel on the summit of the mountains, commanding “that a church

60® Didron, Vole. XI* op® Pit., p® 179®

50

a. Engraved Gera*

b. Engraved Gem*

Figure 8* Hermes Leading Souls to Charon* (a.)Hermes Raising Souls From the Shades, (b.)

should be erected aiid sanctified there to his honor,11 after having performed a miracle on the s i t e . 3 Examples of these ares the church flMonte Galgano . . „ in Apulia (now Manfredonia) . • ■ » 'Ecelesla Sancti Angell usque ad Caelos .. Castle of Sante Angelo . » . in Rome . . . Mont-Saint^-Michel In Normandy.11 1,e » . it. is a notable fact « « . that certain temples of Mercury have been replaced in Gaul by churches under the invocation of St. Michael® Thus, near Puyen Vel&y, the church of St® Michael (built in the year 965, on the top of one of Its sharpest peaks, the. Aiquillej, has been: erected on the ruins of a temple of Mercury, some remains of which may still be seen."^3

In mythology. Paradise was understood Kas the abode of the disembodied spirits of the just19 and to exist “on a lofty mountain answering to . . . the Olympus of the Greeks . . . walled in, however, and inaccessible to embodied

' ■ ■ ss. spirits, a bridge communicating between it and heaven.“ Hence, it would be logical for the ancients to erect temples to the god Mercury, “the mediator between mortals and gods bridging the distance between earth and heaven . . on the summits of lofty isolated mountains and rocks..

- 63. Jameson, op._,cit.., p. 101.64-. Ibid., pp. IOO-IO3.65. Didron, Vol. II, on.- cl tv, p. 182.66. Lord Lindsay, Christian Art, Vol. I., (Londons

.John Murray, 1847), p. xxxii.■ 67° Wind, op. clte c p. 107. .

52

Once the similarities in mission, physical appear­ance and attributes between Mercury and Sto Michael have been brought to light, there seems little doubt that Botticelli used the pagan god to represent the counterpart of the.Archangel, leading the Saved through the clouds into the Presence of Godo

If one is to accept the premise that Botticelli intended Prlmavera to be a representation of The Last Judgment, then the artist6s choice of figures portraying the Damned must be adequately explainede It has been stated that the flower-bedecked figure in the right side of the picture is generally accepted as the goddess Florae .In most accounts of her, she is referred to ass “Flora the goddess of S p r i n g " t h e resplendent herald of spring";^ "the beautiful Flora «, *. o"g?® "the Hour of Spring (Flora transformed by Zephyr) ? V 6"71 and "Ghlpris eram quae Flora vocor * ® What is not often discussed is thecharacter by which Flora was known in ancient times* Rose states in his "Religion in Greece and Rome"*

680 Godfrey, op* cite, p* 148*69* Wind, .o£s^oit«f.. p, 101*70* ' DeWaldB op * elt *, p* 2?6o71 * • Salvlnl, Vol* I I., o.P e cl t o, p* 64 *72* W1nd,.onocito, p* 101»

53

Flora was the goddess,, not so much of flowers in generale as of the flowering of the wheat and other cropso Her'festival apparently: depended on her coming, that is to say on the time when the flowering occurredi,- for it never was fixed in the calendar until it had quite lost its original character o e © the loose nature of the festival, 'the central feature of which was farces of a not over-decent kind acted by courtesans (in ancient ■ “legitimate drama,'5 female parts were taken by

• men), suggests that it wag an off-shoot of one of the semi-Oriental cults which lurked here and there under the worship of Aphrodite, one of whose titles was Anthela, she of the Flowers © © © it was the custom to bring stalks of corn to [Flora's shrine] on the day called Florifertum © © © Doubtless they were flowering, not ripe stalks©73

In discussing Flora, “the Roman goddess of spring and flowers.Waters says: “Her festival was kept from the twenty-eighthof April to the first of May, and attended with excessivedissipation and lasciviousness©"?"*' In "mythology, “Zephyrus•was the lover of F l o r a © I n Foliziano8s Glostra, one of :the stanzes describes the Realm of Venus, in which “Zephyrand Flora dwell © © »“ sharing". © © © their dwelling withsuch personifications as Pear and Delight, Meagreness,

76Suspicion and Despair© “ Fici.no appended to a letter toLorenzo di Pierfraneesco of October, 1481, found in his

Op © elt ©. pp © 221. 222©p - ^6©

Bulfinch, pp©._cit©, p© 164©.?6o Gombrich, art© cit©. p© 9» note 2©

73®74©75®

Epistolar1 ma„ a mythological fable In which he represents"the Garden ef Venus as the evil principle of lust andLuollla*s appearance bedecked with flowers as her fall":

Among the many pieces of advice which Phoebuse the light of life and author of life-giving medi­cine, gave to his daughter Luoilia, the main counsel was that she must never leave her father8s

• side or else she would suffer divers grievous illsv At first Luollla obeyed the commands of her father, forced by the rigour of winter® • But later, reassured by the happy smiles of .spring, the maiden began to stray further from her father8s house, and to stroll among the beautiful gardens of pleasant Venus across the gaily painted meadows? beckoned bn by the charm of the fields, the beauty of the flowers and the sweetness of scents, she • began to make wreaths and. garlands and even a whole garment- of ivy, myrtle and lilies, roses, violets and other flowers® Soon she began plucking the sweet berries and bland fruits all around her, not only tasting them but devouring them with eager mouth® Then the pride that she felt in her new ornaments made her bold? she became vain and con­ceited and quite forgetting her father, she entered the nearby.cityo But meanwhile the snakes hidden among the herbs constantly bit the feet of the dancing maiden, and the bees hidden among the flowers of her garlands.stung- her cheeks, neck and hands? swollen with the richness of her. unaccustomed food she was sorely grieved® Then the ungrateful Lucllia, who had already been seduced by pleasure • to despise her father, the healer, was compelled by her great pains to return home, and to acknowl­edge her father whose help she demanded with these words? "Ah my father Phoebus, come to the aid of your daughter Lucilla, please hurry, oh dearest father, help your daughter who will perish without your succoure" But Phoebus said? "Why, vain Flora, do you call Phoebus your father? . Stay now, yon immodest wretch, stay, I tell you, I am not your father, you just go to your Venus, impious Flora, and leave me instantly®" But imploring him even more with many prayers and beseeching him not to take the life of the only maiden to whom he had given it, she promised him that she would never again disregard his paternal commanda® At last her loving father forgave her and admonished her

53

with these words s 681 do not want'to heal you before ' yen hawe divested yourself of these tinsel ornaments- . and lascivious trappings« •Let It toe your lesson, the lesson of your temerity, that while you stray far from your paternal home you buy;a brief and :slight pleasure at the cost of such long and grievous- pain, and.that the little honey you win by disregarding the eozamandments- of the true healer will bring you much gall*,,77-

The figure of the seml-elad girl, who is being seized around the waist by the dark winged figure,, is usually ' interpreted as a representation of Flora8s daughter, ChloriSo At first, there seems to be a wide divergence in significance; between the confident, fully”clothed, even overdressed- figure of Flora and her frightened, almost nude daughter®It is probable that Botticelli deliberately differentiated these figures to accentuate the Fall of.the Damned® On the one hand he portrays a figure apparently happy and content in the attainment;-of the things of this world, completely . oblivious to the ultimate end that awaits her® On the other hand, he portrays a figure that has been touched by $sThe Devil o o 0 the Prince of Darkness,1’..whose, ’’physical darkness is the symbol of spiritual darknesse.58 ® .Immediately, the things of this world are n© more and fall away as into dusto All that is left of Chloris® possessions is a branch of roses which she clutches almost doggedly in her teeth®

7?o Quoted by Goratorieh, art, cit,, pp. 39, 40. 78. Fergusono on. cit,. p. 41,

56

But even this Is to be denied her, for on close examination, even that is falling assunder, Dr« Otto Pacht has observed that this group of figures ‘'may retain a distant echo of the traditional group of a poor soul trying to enter "Paradise and pursued by one of the devils0

In mythology, “Zephyrus was the West Wind [who] dwelt-with Boreas in a palace in Thrace « ® • The wife of

o oZephyrus was Ghloris, whom he carried away by force. « . ."This wind god has been celebrated by the poets, describing

81his '’rudeness, jealous anger and v i o l e n c e K e a t s alludesto this in his "Endymlon," where he describes the lookers-on at the game of quoits $

Or they might watch the quoit-pitchers, intent On either side, pitying the sad death Of Byacinthus, when the cruel breath Of Zephyr slew him ® ® .82

It has been mentioned earlier that this dark figure in Prlmavera Is generally considered to be Zephyr, and it seems possible that Botticelli chose this winged pagan god, noto­rious for his anger, "Passion"^ and his violent sensual

79® Gombrich, art. cit.. p. 42.8.0® Waters, op® cit®, p® 496®81, Hamilton, op® cit,, p® 89®82. The Poems of John Keats, ed. E. De 8ellnoourt,

(New Yorks Dodd., Mead and Company, 1965)» p® 60,83® Wind, op® cit®, p® 105®

57

nature, to represent Satan in Christian iconology » the Evil winged angel of Hell, who was thrown down from Heaven® (Rev* 12 59) «-

Bottioelli6s characterization of the ornately andelaborately gowned figure of Flora, with her over-abundanceof floral ornamentation, epitomizes those whom Plato refersto as the “fortunate unjust,8 3 who, “even though theyespape in their youth are found out at last and lookfoolish at the end of their course * * e“8^Plato again statesin The Republic the image of a being with a “master passion1*and “idle and spendthrift lusts’*

And when his other lusts, amid clouds of incense and perfumes and garlands and wines, come buzzing . around him, nourishing to the utmost the sting of desire which they implant in his, drone-like nature than at last this lord of the soul, having Madness for the captain of his guard, breaks out into a frenzy? and if he finds in himself any good opinions or appetites in process of formation, and there is in him any sense of shame remaining,. to these better principles he puts an end, and casts them forth until he has purged away tem­perance and brought in madness to the full * 87Those then who know not wisdom and virtue, and are always busy with gluttony and sensuality, go down and up again as far as the means and in this region they move at random throughout life, but they never

85®86®

87®

Qb® cit®, p® 308® IMd®, p® 309®Ibid®, p® 266®esS5GU»SWKt2£HS»

Ibid® .

pass. into, the true upper world? thither they neither-looks, nor do they ever find their way, neither are they truly filled with true, being, nor do .they taste of pure and abiding pleasure.®Like cattle$ with their eyes always looking down and their heads stooping to the earth, that Is, to the.dining table, they fatten and feed and breed, and, in their excessive love of these delights, they kick and butt at one another with horns and hoofs which are .made of' iron-? and they kill one another by reason of their Insatiable lusto For they fill themselves with that which is not substantial, and the part of themselves which they fill is also unsubstantial andincontinente6°

It is interesting to compare, these passages fromPlato with the following from St® Peter (Peter 2sl2*=17)«

But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction with them, suffering wrong for their wrong doing® They count it pleasure to revel in the day time®They are blots and. blemishes, reveling In their dissipation, 'carousing with you® They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin® They . entice unsteady:?soulso They have'hearts trained ingreedc . Accursed children! Forsaking the right way they have gone astray? they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Bezor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for.his own transgression?, a dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet8s madness®

These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm? for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved®

Again Platos 15Then how would a man. profit if he received gold and .silver on the condition that he was to enslave the. noblest part of him to the worst? = » ® And

88® ibid-®, p® 281®

will any one say that he is not a miserable caitiff who remorselessly sells his own divine being tot,that, which is most godless and detestable?

And Christs "For what does it profit a man, togain.the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can aman,give in return for his life?” (Mark 8:36-37)«

Botticelli has clearly meant. to .symbolize, in his figures of the Saved and of the Damned, the futility ofthose, who "lay up 0 0 = treasures on earth13 (Matthew 6:19)for surely at death, all these will be swept away and' man .will stand naked®

It has been .stated earlier that the draped figure of the young woman standing in the center of Prlmavera. has been identified as the pagan goddess Venus® Many art historians have compared her, in this painting, to the Virgin Mary: among.them are:.

Chastels "Venus, grave eomme une Madone ® « *"90Newton and Neils "Almost every writer ©n Botti­

celli, has noted that his Venus and the three ■'Graces in his- * •»;. *' famous/ Priaavera8 have

- - the same aloof gaze, as his Madonnas * * *"91Llonello Venturi: ."Venus is conceived like a

Madonna * * *"9%

89. IbjA., p. 285.90. Art et Humanlsme a Florence, op. clt.. p. 2.73

60

Formaggio; 18« ' « Venus was no longer the. symbolof earthly human love, but a religious and mystical symbol of divine ferr oure She was Caelesti origin© nata. aethereo, ante dlas delecta deoi In an extreme sense she could be identifled'wlth the Virgin«6S93

Nesca Robbs "The same face:may serve for Venus and for Mary e e <, because the painter has apprehended through-the pagan.legend and the Christian Story the light of a spiritual .world that all nations and ages have desired®' Therefore, the goddess of heavenly love and the Virgin Mother . * . may share in the same ethereal grace and wear the same expression of wistfulness « «, oiS9^ .

Roy McMullens « ® the painting can qualifyalmost o ® e as a medieval production.® Venus- Human!tas does not look at all pagan? with the leafy arch behind her she looks much like a Madonna In a niche in a medieval churche"95

Andre' Chastel: "Venus stands like a Madonna inthe center ® * ®"96

Herbert P® Hornes "In the 8Spring,6 Botticellirepresents Venus, veiled and draped in a solemn? stole-like raiment? and of a grave beauty scarcely to be distinguished from that of his Madonnas > * ."97

That Botticelli Intended the Christian interpretation ofVenus to be the Virgin Mary, seems without doubt» The

93° Ope oite, po 10eNeoplatonism of the Italian Renaissance,

(Londons George Allen and Unwin Ltd®, 19351» P® 219=95® Art® cite, p® 96®96® Botticelli, op® bit®, p® 29®97® Herbert P® Horne, Alessandro Filipepi Commonly

Called Sandro Botticelli,- Painter of Florence, (Londons George Bell and Sons, 190?), p® 57®

6l

Madonna is standing in an opening, with orange trees bearing fruit and blossoms on either side of her. The importance here lie's in the fact that Botticelli has used a well-known :symbol from the Catholic Litany of Loreto to identify Mary - the “Mother most Chaste, The tree bears blossoms and fruit at the same time, symbolizing the fact that Mary,awhile bearing the Son of God, still remained a v i r g i n , “98 [Figure 9] “The orange tree is regarded as a symbol ofr-purity, chastity, and generosity. Thus it is occasionally depicted in paint­ings of the Virgin Mary,“99 w, H, We&le also states that oranges are emblematic of purity and chastity,^0®

Botticelli has portrayed the consecrated Virgin in her traditional colors $ white, “to show the innocence of life which the virgin had determined to lead, and the. peace and joy that accompanies a life of innocence s “3*91 blue, symbolizing constancy, heavenly truth, and fidelity;-*-9? and red, “symbolic of love,“ and in all artistic representations' of Mary with her Son, “designating her love for the Divine

98, Carl Van Treeok and Aloysius Croft, M,A,,Symbols in the Church, (Milmukee; The Bruce Publishing ' botany V. 19 W l , p, 115,

99® Ferguson, on, olt,« n, 35® ...100, The Van Eycks and Their Art, (Londons John

Lane Company, 1912), p, "TT5,101, Knapp, op, eit,„ p., 7° .102, Knapp, opj>,..cit,, • p. ?$ Goldsmith, pp_,_cit,,

p. 360,

Figure 9* Mother Most Chaste.The Christian symbol for Mary of a tree bearing blossoms and fruit at the same time.

63

B a b e ® [Figures 10, 11, 12] Here she is pictured in a white gown.,, with a red and blue mantle typifying heavenly love and truths Over her head and shoulders, Mary "wears a transparent white veil to signify her purity v ». which also gives the impression of a nimbus, eia symbol of sanctity, or of great 6,1 stilnetion In the Church; "105 "nimbus .In .a metaphorical sense--e •• «, means c o o [a] veil e e ® a fine and transparent covering, air, consolidated as it were into substance, woven wind, a cloud of gauze, as the ancient Greeks would have said» Herbert Horne states that the ornament which hangs from the jewelled necklace falling from her shoulders is "in the. form of a crescent m o o n o In Christian Iconography, the crescent moon is a symbol for the Virgin.Mary, The Queen of Heaven, and is'

' n n gbased on the apocalyptic vision, in Revelation 12:1*In the Roman Church, "the prerogatives of Mary are

firaly established in the Catholic tradition » «, « and [she has] * * * her role as Mediatrix of all Graces and

iQ3® » Pe i2o10^0 Panof sky, op* clt*, p® 159<=105".. Webber, pp _..oit:o, p. l6l>106* Didron, pp.g_ cito, p* 26* , .107* On. Cit* .' p. 5?»108. Brantl, op* cite, p, 6* Ferguson, op. clt.y

pe" 9 5 » ' ■

64

Figure 10, Virgin and Child with the Two Saints John Detail,By Botticelli,

65

Figure 11• Madonna with the Pomegranate* Detail. By Botticelli.

Figure 12. The Adoration of the Magi. Detail. By Botticelli.

6?

Co-redemptrix of man and Queen of Heaven« It is in her role as “Virgo ClemensB“ Virgin most merciful, that Botticelli represents her as the intercessor for humanity at the Last J u d g m e n t Dante, in his Prayer of St, Bernard, in Paradise, has beautifully described Mary, The Virgin of Mercye^* ' •

Most art historians feel that the figure of Venus in Primavera, is the most important in the eomposition<.It is not surprising to find Botticelli, placing his repre­sentation of the Virgin .Mary in the center of the picture, exalting her as “the Queen of Heaven ® « © the divine Mother of Christ « » « the Mother of all the world, the Virgin of Virgins © © © the Virgin of Mercy - Our Lady Succour © © ©“ who “was prone to forgive © © © [and] deal © © © kindly with those who failed to sacrifice the flesh to the s p i r i t © I t must be -understood that in the “twelfth-century theology swerved toward emotional mysti­cism, and religious passions concentrated on the Virgin M a r y © The Church exalted the Holy Mother and the

109© Brantl, og©_clt©, p© 78©110© Van Ireeck and Croft, op© cit©„ p» 103©111 © x Canto.33 s1-39, 'trans © Lawrence Grant White®

(Hew York: Pantheon Books, 194-8)©112© Goldsmith, op© olt©. pp® 3 2, 34-5©113© Panofsky, op® ©it©, p® 100©** V eacspsayaosewu, iociuxssrxo v

.“worship of the Virgin became a passion* sweeping intellect aside* before, with it* engulfing it® Henry Adams writes that 6Not only was the Son absorbed in the Mother but the Father followed, and the Holy Ghost fared no better® The poets regarded the Virgin as the Templum Trlnitatis® « o ®' The Trinity was absorbed in her® ® ® «1 “Of all holymen and women the Virgin was the most honored and the most loved® Art exalted her above all creatures, and conceived her as an eternal thought of God® . ® . Everything most admired by man becomes a reflection of the Virgln8s beauty® In the fifteenth century, “one of the most mystical books was the Canticle of Canticles illustrated with woodcuts » * in which the Virgin was identified with the Sulamite in this ancient love poem, and the metaphors and similes of which became “in the Christian commentaries, as virginal as the summits of the Alps®19 Mary became “the springtime ® . ® ® [and]the perfumes which mounted from flowers were likened to virtues » modesty, charity, forgetfulness of self®’5-^ Love was the supreme emotion expressed in Christian art in

114® Goldsmith, op® clt®. p® 3 3<=115® Male, op® clt®. pp® 132, 134®.116® Ibid®y p® 134®117.♦ Ibid®, p® 133®

69

the fifteenth century$ and this love vr&s portrayed through the esoteric veneration .of the Virgin; Mary© This exaltation of “the Virgin m s undoubtedly the most mystically satisfy- ing of all the things'* that the Church had adapted, for it "was simply responding to the inexorable need of the human h e a r t loye spiritually«, There is no doubt that at times "the veneration paid her eclipsed that of her Divine Sons "1 -9 .

118e Goldsmith, dco olt.. 344°119c Webber* op« cite, p® 175®

CHAPTER 5

THE BIRTH OF VENUS

By employing the method used in Venus and Mars and Primavera. of attempting to find the Christian meaning of the figures and symbols used by Botticelli in his allegorical paintings, it might be possible to show that the artist intended'the mythological painting of The Birth of Venus c. 1 8.0-b* 1W 1 and c* iW-o. i4862, [Figure 13], to portray The Annunciation: in a latent Christian representation®

manifold, innumerable, polyvalent and pass from one to the other in continual transmutations «■ » • always obscure, allegorical, [and] full of hidden meanings® ® ® ®113 Of The Birth of Venus, Francastel statess "Tout dans cette

Argan states that for Botticelli "images are

/oeuvre est allusion polyvalente, substitution® Beaute de la

1. Janson, pp®_cit®, p® 344; Van Marie, op®__cit 129; Francastel, op® clt*. p® 117®

2® Argan, op® clt®. p® 100$ Lionello Venturi, op® cit®, p® 13$ Formaggio,■op® cit®, plate XXXV$ Chastel,fetlcelll, op®_cit^, p® 32$ Salvini, op® cit®, p® 128?DeWald, cjatjglt., p® 2?8; .Horne, o£®_cit®, p® 152.

3® Op® clto, 117®

• 70

71

Figure 13• The Birth of Venus«

72

Femme substitutes a la Vierge? triomphe symbolIque de la Vies valorisation de I8oeuvre d8art en meme temps que de son subjet par l8allegorle de la eoquiile®

From the left of the painting, in front of.a back­drop of stylized waves and sky, sweeps in a. figure of a winged man lightly draped in a billowing blue eloak„ who. with his left hand and. arm partly supports another winged figure, this.one cloaked in brown, who has both arms clasped about his waisto Both figures seemingly float in a shower of pink roses® From their mouths, issue twin exhalations directed toward the central figure % a young woman of benign and contemplative visage who stands upright on a giant scallop shell floating upon the water. Her only covering is provided by her right hand held partly over her breasts and her long flowing blond hair, which falling past her thighs, is held chastly over them by her left.She seems to look out of the picture directly at the viewer, oblivious, not only to the flying figures.on her right, but also of the long haired maiden, who standing on a stylized shoreline in front of three flowering ©range trees, holds out a gold-trimmed flower-decorated red mantle.. The . terrestrial maiden, herself, is dressed in a full length gown with long white sleeves. Around her neck is a garland of laurel leaves. Her long tltlan-colored hair is bare as are her feet.

Op* eito e p o &

73

The original ownership of this painting has been traced to Lorenzo dt Plerfr&ncesoo de8 Medici, for whom it was painted to decorate his villa at Castello^S »Ce prince . etait etroitement lie' avec Ficin et les ‘platoniciens8 » « « Botticelli «=■ tout l8indique <=■ a ete 8son8 peintre, ce qui ne pouralt que I'orienter vers un 8discours humaniste* et 6platonique$ dans 1 "esprit de Careggie43 Vasari wrote of seeing the painting at Gastello and described the subject of it exactly, also stating that Primavera was. hanging on the mil with it at the villa*?

Matiy art historians consider the subject matter of The Birth of Venus to have come from Polizianoss Giostra (Stanze I, 99) in which he had adapted the Greek texts of Homer which describes the lost painting that Apelles made of .Venus Anodyomenes

"Born is lovely and happy action,.A young woman with face unlike a human •By .lascivious zephyrs is pushed to the shore,Spins on a shell, and It seems that the

heavens are pleased*88/>5* Opp.e, op* clt*. p* 13*

6o Ghastel, Art et Human!sme a Florence au temps dejtaurmt__le^gnlfi^ op. cit., "p = 173* '

7® Van Marie, op* clt0„ pp. 125, 126*8* Quoted in Ghastel,' Botticelli, op* clt,, p« yi%

Van Marie, op-* clt*. p 0 12og De¥ald,. op, clt*, p* 279$Lionello Venturi., o p * clt,, p» 7? $ AndorsonT op * clt., p* 165$. Wind, op* cite, p* 113s Gantimorl, et® al*. op* cite, p* 24; Horne, op® clt®, p® 149*

?4

. Other authors feel that this painting represents . Marsilio' Fioino 8s idea of VennsHumanitaso He explains the myth of Venus8 birth in his commentary, on Plato8s Phi'letouss . ■<tot6<5S138es»53»««"sro55!S5SSzsie •. . . -,

“The story told by Hesiod in the theogeny of how Saturn castrated Heaven and threw the

• testicles into the sea» out of the agitated foam of which Venus was borns we should perhaps nnder=.stand as referring to the potential fecundity of all things which lies latent in the first prin= .ciple.o This the divine spirit drinks and firstunfolds within himself? after which he pours it forth into the soul and matter„ which is calledthe seas, because of the motion, time, and humourof generatione As soon as the soul is thus fertilized, it creates Beauty within itselfi by an upward movement of conversion towards supra«= intelligible things land by a downward movement,'it gives birth to the charm of sensible things in mattero This conversion into Beauty and its birth from the soul is called Venuse And as in all aspects and in all generation of Beauty there is pleasure, and as all generation is from the soul, . .which is called Venus, many thought that Venus

. herself was Pleasure® “10Gombrich states that this passage by Picino “stands for thebirth of beauty within the Neop3„atonic system83 and that“Picino [then] proceeds to give a spiritualized interpreta-

: Htion of Plea sure«.18 *

.. 9= Gombrich, art* clt*, pp. 5 » 55? Argan, op. bit., p. 100$ Janson, op. clt.. p<T3^5g Sylvie Begnin, Andre1' ™ Chastel, Pierre du Colpmbier, Michel Laclotte, Andre'” Linz el er, Paul =»Henri Michel, Peter Murray, Jacques Thulllier, Dictionary of Italian Painting. (Mew Yorks Tudor Publishing Compaq, i m f . pr56$• salvini, op,._cit. e p. 129? Newton and Nell,^o_oito, p. 126.

10. Quoted in Gombrich, arto__cit., p. 54. lie Ibid® v ■

75

The mythological figures in this painting are agreedz

upon.by most art historians to be the goddess Venus, standing on the shelly flanked on her left by two Zephyrs and on her right by one of the Hours, a nymph,' holding- the mantle« .

To try to understand the underlying Christian meaning of this painting, it is imperative that the symbolism of the shell be fully comprehended6 Fra-neastel states that: “Le: principal., a mon point de Tue, e8est la eoqullle? clest elle qui confirme la neoessite d8uhe transposition fcres", X /delicate des valeurs a la fois allegoriques et spatiales de

11o e u v r e * 3 He further states that in an important treatiseby He Metals:

s‘attache a 18 importance que la pensee areh&iqite attrlbue k la categoric du sexel Le- eoquillage, a cause de sa forme, de son orifice, du li^u ou 11 sejpurne, evoque le domain© intime femlnin?

• 11 devlent I6image symbolique de la source de vie, forme une globallte avec elle, Substitute sym- bolique et mythique en quelque sorte d,e la feame™^ dont on salt que, dans certalnes societes, elle assure la transmission de la parente^-ll Is announce, prepare sa venue, seelle les promesses faites, tisse entre donateurs et donataires des Stats d ‘amitie', de confrance d*un caractere religieuxel^

12* Ghastel, Art et Hmnanisme a Florence an tempsde„ Lauren tJ,e„Ms^yique, op^cit, *, p* 174; Salvini, o^__cit., p* 129$ Lionello Venturi, pn*__cit*,, p* 13$ Wind, op^_cit*, p* 113? DeWald, op^eit*, p» 279? Van Marie, 02»_cit., p® 127; Janson, op* cit*, p* 345? Pormaggio, op* olt*, plate XXXV? Robb, op'* eit*, p* 219$ Horne, opT cit*7 p. 148*

13* Francastel, op* eit*, p* 94*14* Ibid®, P» 95®

76

The shell in this painting may be looked upon aS: the symbol of the promise of a new life, brought forth from the womb of a woman = This, of course, was the message In the Annunciation* The scallop shell in Christian Iconology is Ha symbol of Baptism*8 ©,nd 6,As baptism Is a ^rebirth in •God8, ' the 'shell could be taken to indicate that the newlife that has been promised will bring forth One who "shall save His people from their sins," (Matthew 1:21), and lead them back unto the laws of God, This is made even clearer by the fact that the shell is on. water, and In Christian liturgical representations, water "Symbolizes the humanity of Christ"^? and also spiritual regeneration*!®The scallop shell, floating in on the water, symbolizes "the washing away of sin [of mankind] and the rising to newness of life” through the birth of Jesus Christ

A» A* Barb, in his study "Diva Matrix," in the Journal of the Warburg and Courfcauld; •Institutes, "found reasons in comparative mythology to associate Genesis 1,2 ('the spirit moving over the waters1) with the Birth of

15* Appleton and Bridges, pp^__clt*, p. 89* 16* Janson, pp^_cit., p* 3 5*17* Appleton and Bridges, op* cit*, p* 109* 18. -Webber, o^L-plt*, p. 386*19* Ferguson, op* clt*, p* 45*

77

Venus as painted by Botticelli» Barb also refers to"Paracelsus, Opus paramirum IV (8De matrice6)» andHippolytus$ Refutatio omnium haeresi'dm V, xix* liff», bothof which refer to a 8cosmogonic womb8 in remarkably similarterms c "21 vlind has suggested Plato ns Timaeus 49A-53B0 asa possible common source of this theme, in which referenceis made to "8 the receptacle of all generations8«. » « e «22Plato states; "the argument compels us to attempt to bringto light and describe a form difficult and obscure» Whatnature must we, then, conceive it to possess and what partdoes it play? This, more, than anything else; that it isthe Receptacle—-as it were,. the hurse-="=of all B e c o m i n g ,

In The Symposium, Plato states there are twogoddesses of Aphrodite who each has a son called Love;

The elder one, having no mother, who is called the heavenly Aphrodite - she is the daughter of Uranuss the younger, who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, whom we call common » « , but still I must discriminate the attributes of the twoCLoves «, « e the Love who Is the son of the common Aphrodite is essentially common, and has no discrimination, being such as the meaner sort of men feel, and is apt to be of women as well as of ; youths, and is of the body rather than of the soul.e e e But the son of.tho heavenly Aphrodite is sprung from.a mother in whose birth the female

20o Wind, op? cit*, p«, 117, note 2,• 21v Ibido, ppo 117, 118, note 2>22o Ibid.23<» Timaeus 49a, transe Francis Me Cornforde ed®

Oskar Piest, (Mew Yorks The Bobb^Merrill Company, Inco, 1959)®

78

. has no part„ but she is from the male only * * * and the goddess being older has nothing of wanton­ness e: e e Thus noble in every case is the acceptance of another for the sake of virtue®This is that love which is the love of the heavenly goddesss and is heavenly .and of great price to .individuals and cities, making the lover and the beloved alike eager in the work of their "24

This "heavenly Aphrodite” of Plato8s Symposium, is the Venus-Humanltas of whom Marsilio Picino writes in a letter to his pupil, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de8 Medici, in 1477-78: 888For Humanity (Humanltas) herself is a nymph of excellent comeliness, born of heaven and more than others . beloved by God all highest.® Her Soul and mind are Love and Charity, her eyes Dignity- and Magnanimity, the hands Liberality and Magnificence, the feet Comeliness and Modesty® The whole, then is Temperance and Honesty, Charm and Splendour® e t|25 That this Venus-Humanltas lias been considered by many art historians,to be the. Venus represented by Botticelli in his allegorical painting. The Birth of Venus, has already been discussed®

It is highly possible that Botticelli chose this "heavenly Aphrodite,61 inspired by Plato, to represent the Virgin. Mary in the underlying Christian schemata of his painting® The "Neo-Platonists could invoke the 6celestial Venus8 (that is, the nude Venus born of the sea, as in our picture) interchangeably., with the Virgin Mary, as the' source

24® Op® clt®. pp® 327, 328, 331«25® Opera Omnia, quoted in Gombrich, art® clt®, p® 17®

79

of "divine love8 (meaning the cognition of divine beauty) =6,2 Robb states that In The Birth of Venus, "the goddess of heavenly love and the Virgin Mother. « « » may share in the same ethereal grace and wear the same expression of wistful** ness, as of two beings who have come to bless the earth,*"27 "Beaute de la Femme stibstifcuee a la Vierge , , * "28 "Venus was no longer the symbol of earthly human love» but a relig­ious and mystical symbol of divine fervour. She was Caelesti origins nata, aethereo, ante dias delecta deo; in an extreme sense she could be identified with the Virgin," 9 Murray feels that "Venus , * * [is] a sort ofrpagan Madonna » « • who should lift up Man8s mind to the con­templation of that beauty which is Divine in origin , « « it is an Interpretation that made sense in the late fifteenth century,”3° . . .

It is likely that Botticelli portrayed the main figure as nude, because he desired to symbolize her purity and innocence, (in much;;the same way as Titian used it In his painting of Sacred and Profane Love) and. also to suggest that it was not until the Annunciation that the Virgin Mary

26, Janson, op*,, pit., p. 3^5*' 2?, Og^cit,, p. 219. ‘

28. . Francastel., p&i_oit, , P* 117* ■29o Foriaaggio, op,,._clt., p. 10.3 0 . Op^ .bi t., p . 217« ' -

had put on the cloak of knowledge of her role as the Mother of God with its encumbent jo^s and sorrows. In.a meta­phorical senses, in classical times» nudity was “mostly identified with simplicity, sincerity and the true essence of a thing as opposed to circumlocution, deceit and external appearances»“31 It was a period when riches and social prominence were of no importance and nuda virtus was the real virtue of signifloanee.^ At the end of the classical period, the iconographies! explanation of nudity became ambivalent, and- it was not until the beginning of neo­platonism, that nudity came to.be “an expression of inherent beauty,“ “a symbol of truth in a general philosophical sense16 and “to signify the idea! and intelligible as opposed to its varied and changeable 6images6.“53

Thus Botticelli has chosen to represent the Virgin Mary with unveiled body? symbolizing, in a classical way, her spiritual truth and beauty of soul, her purity.and blessedness in God6s eyes. Only, her long golden hair, cascading down her body, covers her. It is of interest to note that beginning in the fifteenth century, representa­tions of “the Virgin always [have] fine blond hair falling oyer a blue mantle.“3^ as she is unclothed, in this painting

31* Panofsky, op. clt.t p. 155=32° Ibid.

81

the color blue Is represented in the ribbon that is loosely tied around her hair® "Blue, the color of .sky, symbolizes . Heaven and heavenly love® It'is the color, of truth, because blue always appears in the sky after clouds are -dispelled, suggesting the unveiling of truth ® * ® In the Church, blue has become the traditional color of the Virgin, and is used on days commemorating events in her life®"35 Gombrich describes Venus in this painting, as "an infinitely tender and delicate being, wafted to our shores as a gift from Heaven®8836 jn addition to the color that is emblematic;:.of the Virgin Mary seen in the sky and water, Botticelli has included another symbol to indicate her presence® In the right side of the painting and branching out over her head are orange trees b l o s s o m i n g ®3? was discussed in thechapter on Primavera, the orange tree, in the Christian Church, is regarded as a symbol of purity, chastity and generosity, and is regarded as emblematic of the Virgin Mary, and when the tree is depicted bearing blossoms and fruit at the same time, it symbolizes the "Mother most Chaste," who still remained a virgin while bearing the Son of God® As the orange trees in this painting have only blossoms and.no fruit, they are symbolic of the Virgin of

35- Ferguson,. op....bit.,; p. 151«36. %m_8tor^^_Art,. (New Y6rk$ Phaldon Publishers,'

• Inc®, I960), p® 19.3®37o Van Marie, OBA-Olt*, p® 128? Horne, pp®_cit®., '

p® 148® .

82

the Annunciation who has not yet brought forth her 18Blessed© o p fruit of © © © [her] womb." (Luke 1:42)©

Botticelli has portrayed the Virgin Mary in a poseof humility in keeping with Christian doctrine «= her righthand rests lightly on her chest, and she stands in a modest,unassuming manner© The humility of the Virgin in acceptingthis awesome role is recalled in Luke 1:38:

And Mary said, 88Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord $ let it be to me according to your word ©”And the angel departed from her©

It is of interest to compare the mythological figure of Venus painted by Botticelli in The Birth of Venus, with the figure of the Virgin Mary in The Annunciation, [Figure 14], painted by the Master of the BarberIni Panels which in the National Gallery of Art, Washington-*-the pose is identical in-each© Another very similar pose of the Virgin is in The Annunciation by Masolino da Panieale (1384 « c© 1435P® also in the National Gallery© Other notable paintings that show the similarity of pose to the Virgin Mary in representa­tions of The Annunciation ares Madonna of the Annunciation by Simone Martini (painted between 1340-1342p9 in the Hermitage ? The Annunciation by Giambattista Cima da Gonegliano

38® John Walker, National Gallery of Art, X3© G©, (New York: Harry N* Abrams, Inc©), p© 331,

■ 39® TheJMmiMgA^iienMgmd: _Medieyal and Renal-88%-ce_Ma8p_er8, ed© V© F© Levlnson-Lessing. (Londons Paul Hamlyn, 1967), p® 2©

83

Figure 14. The Annunciation.Master of the Barberlnl Fanels.

84-

hr\in 14-95e also in the Hermitage 5 Melchior Broederlam8s painting of the same subject, executed after 1392 In the Dijon Museumi Annunciation with Donors* e» 14-55» by Fra Filippo Lippi in the Palazzo Venezia, Romeo^2 (xn this painting, the Virgin8s right hand is extended to accept the. lily from Gabriel, but the same tilt of the head to the right side, with the left hand.modestly holding the mantle to her, and the same graceful, humble pose of the figure are presento)? the panel of the Annunciation by Ghiberti in his First Doors (l4-03«=24-) v [Figure 15] is especially revealing* - the similarity to Botticelli8s figure is striking? Duccio’s painting of The Annunciation- 1308=1311, panel from the predella, of the Maesta, in the National Gallery, London?^The Annunciation by Simone Martini, 1333, the central panel of the alta.r piece, Uffizi, Florence?^ Benedetto Bonflgli8s Annunciation panel painting c@ 14-60 in the Perugia Gallery?^^ The Annunciation on the marble pulpit by Giovanni Pisano,

4'0o Ibid«, p» 2604-1 e Andrew Martindale, Man and the Renaissance,

(New York and Torontos McGraw-Hill Book^Company, 19367, pe 27<>4-2, Ibid. c pe 5O043, Cantimori$ e.t« .al», op, clt.. p> 82,44, Bequin, eto_ale, o^cito, • p. 98.45, Ibid*, p, 180,46® DeWald, op, clt,, p® 308,

Figure 15* The Annuncla11on Panel Ghiberti's First Doors 1403-1424.

86

c. 1301„ in Sant Andrea, Pistorias^ and the panel painting of the Annunciation by Guido da Sienap c® 1270, in the Art Museum at Princeton University*^® It is also notable that in many of the representations of the Virgin Mary by Pra Angelico, Mary's right hand is held to her chest, usually a position symbolizing humility and piety*

It is not surprising to find that. In most of Botticelli's paintings depicting the Annunciation*^ the Virgin Mary is shown in a pose very similar to that of the woman on the shell in the Birth of Venus: [Figures 16 and 17]

Among the many titles that the Christian Church has bestowed on the Virgin Mary is Stella Maria, Star of the S e a «50 "This is a beautiful and symbolic title, for as the shining star guides the mariner, so Mary shines out of the darkness of the Old Testament and gives to the nationsJesus, the Light of the World* "51 In 1 Kings 18 s 4l-»45,

4?» Ibid®, p* 125®.-48. Ibid/. P« 80* ■49® Salvini, op® cite, pp> 165, 182, 136, 134, 65.50® Waters, op® cit*. p® 17; Male, op® cit®, p® 135

Ferguson, op® pit., P T 4.5; Knapp, op® cit*, p® 75; Goldsmith op* cit®, p® 342; Brantl, op® cit*" p® 771 Charles Hartman The'~XlI‘e of Mary, Mother of" Jesus, (New York: Guild Press196377^?o 42; Appleton "and Bridges, op* cit®, p® 96®

51“ ' Knapp, op® cit®, p® 75*

0 9

9

9

87

b.Figure 16. a. The Annunciation Panel In the Chapel

of the Church of Santa Marla Maddalena de1 Pazzi by Botticelli and b. The Ufflzl Annunciation by Botticelli.

88

c.Figure 1?• Paintings by Botticelli of

The Annunciation*a. San Marino Annunciation. Detail.b. Leningrad Annunciation. Detail.c. Glasgow Annunciation. Detail.

89

there is an allusion, to Mary, the Star of the Sea«, It isduring a time of great drought and Elijah orders his servantto go and observe the sea from the height of Mount Carmel $

And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink.;. for there is a sound of the rushing raln»M So Ahab went up to eat and to drinke And Elijah went up.to the top of Carmel; and he bowed him~ self down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees» And he.said to his servant,"Go up now, look toward the seae,11 And he went upand looked, and said, "There is■ nothinge" Andhe said go again seven times o" A,nd at the seventhtime he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man8shand; is rising out of the sea6 "And he said, "Goup, say to Ahab, ’Prepare your chariot and go down,lest the rain stop you?" And in a little whilethe heavens- grew black with clouds and wind, and - •there was a great rain®

"How are we to interpret this cloud ’which rises out of thebitterness of the sea without participating therein8? It

. is, the theologians tell us, & figure of the ImmaculateVirgin, Humanity waits upon her coming for centuries oncenturiese At last, during the seventh age of the world,she appears and refreshes the aridity of the earth bybringing to it the . Christ

Thus, if one accepts the possibility that Botticelli intended the mythological figure of Venus in his painting to represent the Virgin Mary, then the appearance of the wind gods as angels is not surprising» So close is their semblance to the Christian concept in art, Malraux has referred to them as "les anges de la Naissance de Venus. «, «, » 0»53

52e Male, q~po cite, p„ 196®53° Andre Malraux, Les Volx du Silence, (Paris:

La Galerie de la Pleiade, 19517, p7%6%'

90

Gombrich points out that in the Annunciation group on Ghiberti8s First Doors, the "two administering angels are represented flying, not unlike the winds on Botticelli8s picture « «, « ? Ghastel describes them as having "the graceful attitudes of angels e « ® and Jans on. states that "once we understand that Botticelli8s picture has this quasi-religious meaning, it seems less astonishing that the two wind gods on the left look so much like angels® • « ®"56

In Christian doctrine there are three hierachies of angels, each having three choirs of angels in them, and in Christian art, angels are "properly represented as beardless, sexless beings, winged, human in form and bare- footed®"57 In the fourteenth century, a sudden change occurred in the treatment of the clothing of the angels, and the long chaste white robes worn by them in the thirteenth century, gave way to "heavy, brilliantly colored capes® ® « ®"58 It is noteworthy that Botticelli chose to portray his winged figures in this painting each wearing a pallium, the draped cloak worn by men of ancient Greece and R o m e ® 59

5^« Bptticel l i j ^ art® cit®, p® 55s note 1®55 ° op b g p o 21©5 6 ® • * P° 3 5•57» Webber, ^®_cit®, p® 220®58® Male, op® cit® p® 106®59® .1 Webber, o p « cit®, p® 221®

91

The third hierarchy of angels are called Messengersand the most important of these is Gabriel, The Messengerof God, who was sent from Heaven to announce the birth ofChrist to the Virgin® This event is told in Luke 1:26=38:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent fromGod to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virginbetrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the Virgin8s name was Mary«And he came to her and said, ’’Hail, 0 favored one, the Lord is with youI” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God* And behold, you will con­ceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus*

He will be great, and will be called theSon of the Most High?

and the Lord God will give to him the throneof his father David,

and he will reign over the house of Jacobforever? ,

and of his Kingdom there will be no end*”And Mary said to the angel, ’’How can this be, since I have no husband?” And the angel said to her,

’’The Holy Spirit will come upon you, andthe power of the Most High will overshadow you?

therefore the child to be born will be • called holy,

the Son of God*And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son? and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren* For

1 with God nothing will be impossible*” And Mary said, ’’Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord? let it be to me according.to your word*” And the angel departed from her*

60® Jameson, PP_s_cit*, ppv 51, 120

In representations of The Annunciation, the Arch­angel Gabriel flies in from above, floats in on a cloud, or walks in and kneels down before Mary,■'.but in all ofthem, he. is **always young, beautiful, and yet thoughtful

6lin look*11 The Virgin stands and is very seldom seated and her attitude, with "her eyes drooping and her hands folded on her bosom, is always expressive of the utmostsubmission and humility*"62

The rain of white and pink flowers accompanying the angels ("The rain of flowers, as a symbol of divine impregnation, recurs in Signorelli's Immaoulata (11 Gesu, C o r t o n a ) g are identified as rosess "the roses which fall from the breath of the Zephyrs * « * and "flying wind- gods amidst a shower of roses."^5 These roses are floating in the direction of the mythological figure representing Mary. In Christian iconography, the "rose, [Figure 18] either white or pink, is a common symbol of Our Lady"s'^ it is a "Symbol of the Blessed Virgins it figures in the Litany of Loreto as the Mystical Rose * . .In the five

6l. Maters, op. ;cit., p. 18?• ...., 62. Jameson, op. clt., p. 121.

63. Wind, op. clt.* p. 117, note 2.64. 'Ibid., p. 113.65. Gombrich, The Story of Art, op. elt.n p. 192.66. Webber, op. cit., p. 179°

Figure 18. The Mystic Rose.The Christian Symbol for the Virgin Mary.

94

petals of the wild rose were seen the five joys of Mary, and a reminder :of the five letters in Maria«» « ■« «"The Rose is one emblem of love and beauty and is especially,.

68dedicated to Mary$EI among the beautiful metaphors chosenby the early liturgical writers to depict the Virgin is116rose without thorns6 ; and the rose is "the symbol ofthe Virgin from the verse in the Canticles « , .: *1 amthe rose of Sharon8» « = « Like many of the symbolsemblematic of the Virgin Mary, they found warrant in theScriptureso "In Douai, Eooleslasticus. 39e 17, we reads8Hear me, ye divine offspring, and bud forth as the roseplanted by the brooks of waters®6

The legend of the manner in which the rose came tohave thorns is related by St® Ambroses

Before it became one of the flowers of the earth, the rose grew in Paradise without thorns® Only after the fall of man did the rose take on its thorns to remind man of the sins he had committed .and,his fall from grace; whereas its fragrance and beauty continued to remind him of the splendor of Paradise® It is probably in reference to this legend that the Virgin Mary is called a 8rose without thorns® because of the traditions that she was exempt from the consequences of original sin=>?2

6?® Appleton and Bridges, o>B*_olt., p® 81,68® Maters, op6..oit®, p® 16®69® Male, op® sit®, p® 135®70® Jameson, op® alt®«, p® 123®71® Appleton and Bridges, o p ® clt®, p® 82®72® Ferguson, op,o.„clto, p® 37®

95

It is worthy of special mention that the rose» among the ancient Romans» “was the flower of Venus, goddess of lovee8 6 Thus „ the roses drifting downward are a symbol for the mythological Venus and for the Virgin Mary in this painting 6^

The female figure holding up a cloak in the right side of the picture has already been identified as one of, the Hours, (Horae) or Seasons» They were ’’Goddesses of the s e a s on s ,i n the same sense as expressed in Ecclesiastes >11-^8

For everything there Is a season, and a time for every matter under heavens

■ a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up

what is planted; a time to kill, and a time" to.heal? a time to break down, and a time to build

up $a time to weep, and a time t© laugh ® ® »

These goddesses “produced order in both nature and society®"7^ There were three Horae $ Dike - Goddess of human justice? Eirene, goddess of peace and Eunomia, goddess, of wise

73« IMd® ./ /74. Louis Beau, Iconqgraphie de 18Art Chretien,

Tome I, (Paris? Presses Universltaires de France, 1955),p C 1 3 3 ®

75® .Jo E® Zimmerman, Dictionary of Classical Mythology, (Mew York: Harper and Bow7 Publishers, Inc®,1965)fpp® 85, 129*

760 Ibid®, p® 85®

96

legislation and o r d e r ® T h e Hours are mentioned in TheIliad of Homer, V. 7^8=751:

Hera laid the lash swiftly on the horses? and moving of themselves groaned the gates of the sky that the Hours guarded, those Hours to whose charge is given the huge sky and Olympos, to open up the dense darkness or again to close it.78

In art the Hours are “represented as blooming youths ormaidens bearing the products of the s e a s o n s . "79

It is possible that Botticelli chose one of themythological Hours in his painting of The Birth of Venusto represent one of the Sibyls, prophetesses who utteredMessianic testimony in antiquity and who were held in high

80esteem. "The Sibyls are the counterpart of the Prophets.As the Prophets connect the Jewish world with Christianity,so the Sibyls connect the Greek and Boman world with the

81Christian era." That the Church accepted the Sibyls as witnesses to the truth of Christianity, can be seen in "an extract from the hymn ‘Dies Irae*, said to have been written by Pope Innocent I I I . T h e origin of these certain women

77. Ibid.78. Translation by Richmond Lattlmore, (Chicago

and London? The University of Chicago Press, 1962).79. Waters, pp __cit., p. 459«80. " Webber, o^_clt., p. 37°81 o. Ferguson, pp_.__cit., p. 1.01.82. Waters, og^cit., pe 276.

97

•was obscure, but they were regarded as holy virgins andwere believed to be endowed with prophetic, powers and

83inspired by heaven® Their names were taken from the localities of their habitations, and /"Varro, who wrote about 100 BeG*, gives their number as ten®18 The most famous of the Sibyls was The Gum&ean. Sibyl, who, according to .Waters$ interpretation of a passage in Virgil9 s Aeneidyforetold the birth of C h r i s t , The Sibyls "most commonly represented in the Middle Ages were the Brythrean, who is supposed to have foretold the Annunciation, and the T i b u r t l n e , who prophesied to Emperor Augustus that a Hebrew child would be bom who would be a king from Heaven and reign over the gods themselves» In Renaissance art there are frequent portrayals of these deeply respected

O Owise prophetic women of divine will and purpose, whose inspired utterances were known as the Sibylline Books or Sibylline Verses, at an early date current in Greece, and later taken to Rome where they were kept in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinas, under the care of a priesthood who.

83® Zimmerman, bp®„_clt.6, p, 239®84® Waters, ©po cite,. p® 276®85® .Ibid®, p® 278o86® Ferguson, op® cit®, p® 100®. 87® Waters, op® cit®, p® 2?8? Beau, Tome. I,

op® cit®, p® 202®88® Ferguson, op® cit®, p® 101®

98

on special occasions, consulted them and interpreted theirprophecies to the p e o p l e W h e n the holy place burned down, -It >ras rebuilt In 83 B.Ce by Augustust he selected from the many books that were offered from the supposed homes of the different Sibyls around the world, the ones that he considered to be genuine, and he put together a new set of Sibylline books, storing the chosen prophecies, not in the Capitol as before, but in the base of the giant Statue of Apollo that had been erected in his magnificent new temple on the Palatine in Rome®^; In Christian times the Sibyls were used wln thecyclical decorations of churches with the prophets [and]often they were about the principal entrance, or if inside,near the door; their position being typical of their havingbeen *forerunners of the Lord1•"91 a very beautifulexample of Sibyls used in Renaissance art is to be foundin Michelangelo$s frescoes depicting The Creation, on theceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which he bagan in 1508 and

Q?completed in 1513®

89® Rose, op® clt®, pp® 242^ 2k3i Rulfineh,OP® Cite , p® 250®..

90® : Rose, op® elt®, p® 243®91® Waters, op® cit®, p® 278®

. 92® DeWald, op® cit®, p® 3801 Franco Russoli,Renaissance Painting, trans® Angus Malcolm® (New Yorks The Viking Press; Inc®, 1962), p®-23®

99

Jt is possible that Botticelli would have sensed a kinship between the Hours^ the arbiters of the seasons of mankind, and the Sibyls who had predicted that in the proper time, a virgin would give birth to a son who would become a Heaven-sent King® Just as the Hours would cloak Plato6s "heavenly Aphrodite," the goddess of celestial Love who "is the power that moves the visible world, infusing the transcendent order into the corporal . . . ,"93 with their attributes of human justice, peace and wisdom of order, just so the Erythrean Sibyl would cloak Mary in the knowledge of her Divine Destinye

The mantle that the Sibyl is holding up and pre­paring to place around the Virgin is red, and this color, as has been discussed previously. In the Christian Church symbolizes the love that Mary will feel for her Divine Sone The cloak is trimmed with a gold; border which signifies divinity and "the sacredness of that which is depicted®"9^On the mantle are two flowers that are identifiables the Glastonbury Thorn [Figure 19], which covers most of the cloak, and the flowering almond [Figure 19] which is seen mainly around the borders® "The blossoms of the Glastonbury thorn are symbols of our Lord8s Nativity?"95 in Christian

93* .Wind, o^o^cit®, p® 120®94® Ferguson, o&®_cit., p® 153.95° Webber, op® cit®, p» 71®

a. The Glastonbury Thorn Is a symbol of Christ's Nativity*

b. The Flowering Almond is a symbol of the Virgin Mary.

Figure 19• The Glastonbury Thorn and The Flowering Almond.

101

iconographye Just Inside the gates of the great ruinedabbey at Glastonbury, Somersetshire,, stands an ancientthorntree believed to have originated from the thornwoodstaff planted by Sto Joseph of Arimathaea, “who is said tohave introduced Christianity into England in the year 63A e D = B e c a u s e of its “remarkable habit of bursting intobloom about Christmas Day each year," it has becomeemblematic of Christ®s birtho^?

The flowering almond “is a symbol of divine approvalor favor" in the Church, and is "a symbol of the Virgin

08Mary," . It is based on Numbers 17sl-8 in which it relates that "the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almondse" "Because an undefiled Virgin, by a miracle, and contrary to biological laws, brought forth a Son, the rod of Aaron which burst into bloom contrary to the usual laws of nature, was adopted * V «" as the symbol of the Virgin Birth through God8s divine approval of Mary

Thus, through.the use of Christian symbols, Botticelli has shown the Lord8s divine love and favor to

. 96« Ibid.97» Ibid.98. Ferguson, on. cit., p. 27«99® Webber, op. pit., p. 179®

102

Mary, the Nativity of the Christ Child, and the Virgin8slove for the “Divine Babe”?

On the long flowing.dress that the Sibyl is wearing,the thistle plant is clearly recognizable [Figure 20]« “Thethistle is the symbol of earthly sorrow and sin® ® «It derives from the curse that God pronounced to Adam inGenesis 3:17-18:

And to Adam he said,“Because you have listened to the voice of your'wife#

and have eaten of the tree of which 1 commanded you,

1You shall not eat of it,$ cursed is the ground because of you;In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field®”

In Christian doctrine, “Mary is the new Eve foretold in Genesis®

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is thisthat you have done?” The woman said, “The serpentbeguiled me, and I ate®” The Lord God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon .your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the

. - days of your life®

100® Ferguson * on® clt®, p ® 38® 101® Brantl, on® clt®, p® 7^«

Figure 20. The Thistle.The Christian symbol of earthly sorrow and sin.

104

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your seed and her seed? she shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel®” (Genesis 3J13~15)

,6As the first Eve was instrumental in the fall of man,Mary would destroy sin by giving birth to the Redeemer offallen mane A virgin, conceived without the sin of Adam(the Immaculate Conception), she would mother the NewAdamelsl02

Around the Sibyl's waist are entwined branches with roses bloominge The rose, as has been shown, is a very prominent symbol for the Virgin Mary in Christian iconography® A wreath of laurel is placed around the shoulders, of the Sibyl« The laurel, [Figure 21], in the Church, symbolizes “reward [and] victory"3-03 and “triumph and eternity",In ancient ceremonials the laurel indicated the reward of victory oyer a difficult s t r u g g leBecause the laurel leaves are always green and never wilt, it symbolizes eternity®10 "Thus the Church uses ® ® ® [the laurel] in a symbolic way to designate the victory of Christ over sin

.102® Brantl, op®_cit® P*; 74®103® Webber, op, cit., p® 37%»104e Ferguson, op _olt..*» P« 33®105® Knapp, op® clt®, p® 12®106® Ferguson, op® clt®, Po 33®

105

Figure 21. The Laurel

106

and deaths and the peace won by virtue which conquers over vice®"^^7

Therefore» through the Christian symbolism on the •.Sibyl*s dress and body, the prophecy of Mary is toldi Mary, symbolized by the roses n1 shall bring forth a son and shall call His name Jesus® For He shall save His people from their sins, f 88 (Matthew Is21) Mary, the new Eve, by giving birth to the Redeemer, shall destroy sin and remove God*s curse on mankind, symbolized by the thistles; Mary,. Mater salvatoris. because of the tremendous significance of her role as the source of salvation, will be sustained, on her journey through this life by the promise of Christ8s resurrection and the reward of victory that He will win over sin and death for all mankind, for all eternity, as symbolized by the laurel®-*-®®

107® Knapp, opo clt®, p® 12®108® Brantl, op® oit®, pp® 7 » 75l Knapp, op® clt®,

p® 12; Van Treeck and Croft, op® clt®. pp® 102, 109®

CHAPTER 6 MINERVA AND. THE CENTAUR

1In Minerva, and the Centaur, c* 1480=1482," or c® 1485* .1488, [Figure 22], It is feasible that Botticelli wished to depict the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, raising up man from the sinfulness into which he has fallen as a creature of free will, by the promise of redemption and salvation through the teachings of Christ and the contin­uing visible presence of His authority for the governingof men®^

Botticelli "has reconstituted this process of trans­mutation or contaminato of a sacred theme, to fix a point«SS3aC23as3C&35U3y^$fi3=fiZC3iSti»eHHBOGC3i—> »

of convergence between the doctrines of Antiquity and' A ■Christianity®" This painting of Minerva and, the Centaur,

together with his other allegorical.works which are gen­erally considered to be secular or even pagan, "are efforts

1® Van Marie, op® cit®, p® 102? DeWald, op® Git®, p® 280; Salvini, op® cit.®» p® 73® .

2® Chas cel.,. ■Bot_bice£Lli, op e c! ®, p® 31* lionello Venturi, op*_git.»* p® 13? Oppef, opi®_cit®, p® 2D (3)? Formaggie, op® cit®, plate XXV; Horne., op® cit®, p® 160®

3® Brantl, op® cit®„ p® 104®4® Argan, op®._.oit.®, p® 2?®.

107

108

Figure 22. Minerva and the Centaur.

to link up the Christian myth with the myth of antiq-ulty» o e « In discussing Botticelli8s use of mythologicalfigures and subjects8 Francastel states:

Le rite* la representation ,du fait mythique, est necessalre pour, que dure l8ev<=nement et pour qu8il continue a prgduire sa vertu « « « Connaitre le myth e6e.st connaitre la vie e =. „ Par conse­quent le rite vise a mintenir presente a la con-

..science humaine I8 image vivante de la real it immuable, zdefinitivement expliquee par un petit nombre d^episodes ou s’est manifestee la pensee de Dleuo®

He further explains by sayings "Je repete que la pensee mythique ouvre a. 18honmie des domaines ou 11 ne penetrera jamais sans elle» 11 n lest pas just de pretendre qu811 y ait identite enfcre ses demarches et celles de la raison*

Against the background of a moss-topped overhanging cliff composed of heavy greyish rocks, there stands the figure of a creature with the upper body and head of a heavily bearded man and the lower body and four legs of a horse» With one foreleg half raised, he is portrayed supporting an unstrung bow with his downstretched right hand, while a quiver of arrows is seen supported by a thin red strap across his right shoulder* With head half- turned, he seems to be gazing with pleading and remorseful eyes at a young woman who, with, outstretched right hand, is gently holding up one of his long russet locks*

5® Ibid*, p* 29*6 e Op* cite, p * 29 =

110

The woman stands upright shod in half-length open- toed boots, and clad in a long patterned white, dress sur­mounted by a heavy green mantle® In a circlet around her long titian hair and interwining her arms and upper body are branches of olive® Resting on the ground and supported by her down-stretched right-hand is a highly.decorated halberd which extends above her head and has the appearance of both a Latin cross and a weapon®

In the background there appears a quiescent hill- lined harbor into which a ship seems to be sailing® Access to the harbor from the foreground is denied by a spiked fence which appears on the far right of the picture®

Until recently, Minerva and the Centaur has been interpreted by some art historians as a graceful act of homage to the house of Medici, and as a commemoration of. the collapse of the Pazzi rebellion on April 26, 14-78, at which time a rival family hoped to sieze the power held by the Medici in Florence by attempting to assassinate' Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano; although Giullano waskilled, the rebellion failed and was put down and the

8Pazzi were hanged® . Today, the most widely accepted interpretation is that the painting is probably a moral

■ . ^ DeWaldy-0£2_cit.,-/p. 280;. Oppe, 'p® 2D(2); Ernst Stelnmann, Botticellie trans® Campbell Dodgson® (Bielefeld and L e i p z i g Velhagen and Klasing. 1901), pp® 74-, 75, 76? Horne, op® cit®, p® l6l®

Ill

allegorys the victory of reason over sensuality.^; In mythology the Centaurs were monsters'who

inhabited Mount PelIon'in Thessaly„ were said to have beenfathered by Ixion, King of the Lapithae and a phantomimage of Hera and were represented as men from the head tothe loins» while the remainder of the body was that of a

10horse. For the most part they were considered savageiicreatures and used to personify the evil passions In man.

However, it has been pointed out that the ancients, because of their fondness for the horse, could not consider the union of the equine nature with man as a purely evil form,, thus."the Centaur is the only one of the fancied monsters of antiquity to which any. good traits are assigned

In Botticelli6s milieu, the nature of man was con­sidered to be dual. Plato states in The Republics

. but the point which I desire to note is that in all .

9° Gombrich, Botticelli 8s.Mythologies, art cit.« pp. 51> 52, 53? Lionello Venturi. qtT. citl, p. 721 Formaggio,

p. 10, .Chastel, Botticelli, ogVclt., p. 31?Salvini, op. cit.» p. 73? R. Wittkower, "Transformations of . Minerva in the Renaissance Imagery," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. II, 1938-1939» P® 85.

10. Waters, op. cit.. pp.> 36, 46l; Bulfinoh, op. cit p, 120; Zimmerman, op. cit.. p. 5 ? Hamilton, op. cit. , p Webber,■op. cit.. p. 85? The Iliad, the Glossary,^.^503®

11. Webber, op. cit.. p. 85? Waters, op. cit., p^ .. Hamilton, op. cit.. p. 53; Ferguson, op. cit.V p.^TIf Beau Tome I, op._ cit., p. 137® "

12. Bulfinch, op. cit®, p. 120.

112

of us» even in good men, there is a lawless wlld~beastnature which peers out In s l e e p 3 The neo~platon!sts,headed by Ficino, believed that "man is composed of body andsoul, the body being a form inherent in matter, the soul aform only adherent to it © o © the splritus mundanus inter™connects the sublunary world with translunary © © © spirltushumanus interconnects the body with the soul © The soul ismade up of "anima secunda. or Lower Soul," and is in 11 closecontact with the body" and directs "physiological functions"and "anlma nrlma. or Higher Soul,which comprises "Reason"and " M i n d " © 3 "Reason is closer to the Lower Soul” and"becomes involved with the experiences, desires and needs ofthe body as transmitted by the senses and imagination," but

<■unlike'“The Lower Soul which is "not free, but determined by 8fate5," "Reason is free © © © [and] can either allow itself to be carried away by the lower sensations and emotions, or overcome t h e m © M i n d , on the other hand, ■Ficino continues in his Theologla Platonics, is in communion with the "intellectus divlnus" and is able to share in "an eternal and infinite essence," and can instruct Reason when

13© Book IX, p© 265©14© Panofsky, op© clt.. p© 136©15© Ibid©16© Ibid©, pp© 136, 137©

113

needed In the struggles of man1s Lower Soul with its animalinstincts and its yearning for celestial, enlightenment

On the care of the soul of man whose dual nature"has a good and also an evil* V « « and yearns, for "therewards which Justice and the other virtues procure to thesoul from gods and men* both in life and after death," 9Plato Instructs in his Tlmaeusr

As concerning the most sovereign form of soul in us we must conceive that heaven has given it to each man as a guiding genius— that part which we , -:say dwells in the summit of our body and lifts us from earth toward our celestial affinity* like a plant whose roots are not in earth* but in the heavens® And this is most.true, for it is to the heavens * whence the. soul first came to birth* that the divine part attaches the head or root of us

. and keeps the whole body upright» Now if a man is engrossed in appetites and ambitions and spends all his pains upon these* all his thoughts must needs be mortal and, so far as that is possible, -he cannot fall short of becoming mortal altogether, since he has nourished the growth of his mortality®But if his heart has been set on the love of learn­ing and true wisdom and he has exercised that part of himself above all* he is surely bound to have thoughts immortal and divine, if he shall lay hold upon truth, nor can he fail to possess immortality in the fullest measure that human nature admits? and because he is always devoutly cherishing the divine part and maintaining the guardian genius that dwells with him in good estate, he must needs be happy above all<>20

Thus, it appears logical that the Centaur inBotticelli 6 s painting may be thought of as representing

l?o Ibid*. p* 137*18* Plato8s Republic, p* 304-* 19* Ibid;, p® 30? *20© 9 OB- 9 0 c ©

114

Plato8s 'mortal body" of man which contains "an immortal principle of soul*1 that is "confined « « « [in] the head » » « the divinest part of us and lord over all the r e s t , a n d "another form of soul$ the mortal, having In itself dread and necessary affections: first pleasure,.the strongest of evil; • • e temerity -» * • and fear, a pair of unwise counselors; passion hard to entreat, and hope too easily led. astray «, , e combined with Irrational sense and desire that shrinks from no venture, « e. ."23 Thus, "the wild beast within us"2^ that Plato describes in The Republic would be the "mortal form of the soul"represented by the Centaur6s body of a horse with four feet and a tail in Minerva and the Centaur, and "the soul which can not be destroyed by an evil, whether inherent or external, [which] must exist forever, and if existing forever, must be immortal, .. . *"^5 would be the "immortal principle of soul" represented by the man8s head, trunk and loins of the mythological figure@

In Christian iconography, the Centaur symbolizes "savage passions and excesses » #'. • brute force and

21e Timaeus. 69c®22o Ibide, 44de

' 23o rbidc, 69c-69d.24®' OEs^clto, p® 264, 25® Ibid®, p® 306®

115

vengeance « © the heretic ® ® « [and] man dividedpA •against himself,, torn between good and evil®”- The repre­

sentations of centaurs to personify these evil passions In man hcan be seen in the large majority of the old churches®83 The bow and arrow sometimes depicted with a centaur sym-

pnbollzes the fiery darts of the wicked, and the 81 temptation of the devils85

The female figure holding the halberd has been identified as the goddess Minerva by most art historians®30 In mythology, Athena or Minerva was one of the great divin­ities of the Greeks, being born of no mother but springing full-grown in full armor from the head of Zeus®31 She was the goddess of wisdom and presided over the civilized life of the state— handicrafts and agriculture— and maintained laws and order, especially in c o u r t s ® 32 "She was also

26® Ferguson, op® cit®„ p® 14®27® Webber, op.® cit®, p® 85®28® Ferguson, op® cit®. p® 14-s Webber, op® cit®. p® 85< 29® Webber, op. p® 367®30® Ghastel, Botticelli, op® cit®. p® 31; Formggio,

op® cit®. p® 10? Lionello Venturi, op® cit®. p® 12? Van Marie, op® cit®. p® 102? DeWald, op® cit®. p® 280? Oppe, op® cit®.inr°2D"”( 2) ? Salvini. op® cit®. p® 73? Horne, op® cit®. p® 158?Steinmann, op® cit®, p® 75? Gombrich, Botticelli^s”Mythologies., art® cit®-. p® 53? Wittkbwer, art® cit®. p® 85®

31® Hamilton, op® cit®. p® 29? Goldsmith, op® cit®.P® 357? Waters, op® cit®, p® 430? Bulfinch, op® cit®. p® 163? Zimmerman, op® cit®. p® 36®

32® Ibid® •

116

a warlike divinity $ but It was defensive war only that shepatronized,, and she had no sympathy with Mars8 [Ares]

33savage love of violence and bloodshed®11 The earliest account of Athena is in The Iliad.: . I® 194-221, and many other iffamous stories about her are in [the] Aeneld„ Hogeric lSimns, [the] Odyssey,, Pausanias„ Aeschylus8 Eumenides, Sophocles8 Oedipus and many other ancients®.”34

Minerva, goddess of great wisdom and foresight in the conduct of war to protect the State from its enemies and protector of heroes, and goddess of power, being trusted to carry the aegis of Zeus, his buckler, and the thunder­bolt, ,6typified the ethical rather than some physical aspect of nature, thus differing from the great mother goddesses of earth and s k y , She is the most important of the three • virgin goddesses and is “removed from the passions of love and h a t e , H e r temple was the Parthenon, as she was called the Maiden Parthenos, and Athens was her own city, being the prize that was awarded her in a contest with Neptune, in which the winner was the one who produced the gift most useful to mortals— Minerva created the olive,

33® Bulflneh, op» cit,, p, 31®34, Zimmermnh op, cit,. p, 36,35® Goldsmith, og^.cit^ p, 35?®36, dbid.

11?

and It was judged the most beneficial to man®-^ Because of that, the olive tree was sacred to her and became her symbol together with the aegis, and a golden staff or lance®-^ Edgar Wind identifies Minerva as "the goddess of p e a c e ® and the olive branch in mythology was univer^ sally regarded as a symbol of peaces "La branohe de 1 golivier, 1*arbre que les Grecs avalent consacre a Athena, deesse de la Sagesse, a toujours ete consideree comme un symbols de p a i x ® T h e peace that Minerva brought to her mortals was through her victory over their enemies by her harmoniously blended power and wisdom®^

In the Old Testament, there are many references to the olive tree, and "No tree is more closely associated with the history and civilization of m a n ® Its foliage .

37® Bulfinch, on® cit®„ p® 103? Hamilton, op® cit®, P® 30® .

38® Goldsmith, op® clt®, p® 357? Hamilton, op® cit®. p® 30? Waters, op® clt®. o® 430 j Bulf inch, op®, cit®, p® 103? Zimmerman, op® clt®. p® 182®

39® Om®_cit®, p® 162®40® Beau, Tome_I, P° 133® .41® Ferguson, op® cit.. p® 36? Goldsmith, op® clt®.

P® 35?» Appleton and Bridges, -op® clt®, p® 69? Knapp, op® citp® 1? Bulfinch, op® cit®, pp® 103, 194? Hamilton, op® cit®,PP® 29, 30®

42® Smiths op® cit®, p® 468.®

is the earliest that: is mentioned by name, (Genesis 8ill) s "and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth a freshly.plucked olive leaf? so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth=" The olive branch "marque la reconciliation &e Dieu avec les homines«The allegory of the olive tree is used throughout the Scriptures as the emblem of God8s blessing, strength and abundance toward His children, who through Him partake of divine p e a c e T h e oil of.the olive tree was very closely integrated into the domestic, mercantile, social and religious life of the people; Ezekiel 2?:17s "Judah and the land of Israel traded with you? they exchanged for your merchandise wheat, olives and early figs, honey, oil, and balm."? I Samuel 10sis "Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his [Saul8s] head, and kissed him and said, 6Has not. the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people of Israel? And you shall save them from the hand of their enemies round about. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.1"? Matthew 2 5 : : "For when thefoolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but

43o Ibido .44o Beau, TomeJC*. QE»_elt«, p. 133»45- Smith, op^cit., p. 468 ; Ferguson, pp.__cit.,

Pe 35-

119

the wise took flasks, of oil with their lamps»11; Psalm 23$1-6s

The Lord is my shepherd, 1 shall not want;he makes me lie down in green pastures®

He leads me beside, still waters? he restores my soul®

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name 8.s sake ®

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil? for thou art with me? thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me®Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemiesi Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup over flowsoSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life? and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever®

Also the importance of olive oil is found in Luke 10;33"3^!"But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was? and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring an oil and wine, ® . «"?Mark 6$13? "And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed .them®"? and in James 3?1^-15? “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray for him,.anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord ? and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up? and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven®" -

120

In Christian iconology, “Because the oil of theolive was used in olden times to sooth pain, the olivetree, or a sprig of olive, is a symbol of the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ which Is able to give peace to thesorrowing s i n n e r . T h u s the•mythological goddess of•wisdom and peace, Minerva, protectress of her people,crowned by a wreath of olive and whose arms and upper bodyare also entwined in olive, may have been intended byBotticelli In Minerva and the Centaur to represent theChristian Church; The Mystical Body of Christ, throughwhich n 6 Christ, triumphant over death, has given to theworld eternal peace, and opened the gate of heaven to allrighteous persons6«. Il7

The design of the three interwined circles in thispainting that is found on Minerva8s dress from her waistdown has been, interpreted by most authors to representthe emblem of Lorenzo the Magnificent or the whole Medici

hofamilyo What has not been mentioned, however, with the exception of Herbert Home,^ is the fact that the motif of

46» Webber, ope cite„ pe 73®4?c Didron, VolULJ ^ ? P® 3l6« .486 Chastel, Botticelli. opo cit„, pc 31? Pormaggio, «, P® 10? Lionello Venturi, op® cit,, p® 72? Goabrich,

Botticelli 8s Mytholog1es. art, cite, p0 50? Van Marie,P® 1027~Steinmann, op®_clt.., p= 76? Oppe, op® cit®,

p® 2D(2); Wittkower, "Transformations of Minerva in Renais­sance Imagery,11 art® cit®. p® 85? Salvlni, op, cit®, p, 73? Horne, op® cite .* p, 158, ■ • "

121

rings is different on the chest, of Minervas where some of the olive leaves end in a single rings and on the sleeves of her dress where there is a design of four rings inter- twined<. There is also a decoration of single rings over­lapping around the neckline of the dress® In the Christian Church, the symbol of three circles of equal size, inter­twined [Figure 23] “expresses the doctrine of the equality and the unity of the Triune God® Their equal size [has always] indicated the fact of the equality of the Three Persons® Their form . . « [Figure 23], a figure having neither beginning nor end, attested the fact of the eternal nature of the Three Persons® When Interwoven the fact of their unity is d e l i n e a t e d ® “The circle, or ring has been universally accepted as the symbol of eternity and never ending existence®“51 Hence, the single rings, found on the top of Minerva6s dress, at the ends of some of the olive leaves,. (emblem of peace) could have a Christian meaning of eternal peace in Heaven for mankind as promised by Christ through His Church® The rings linked together around the neck are “emblematic of the earth and sky,“5^ sym­bolizing the union of the celestial and terrestrial worlds ®

50® Webber, op® clt®, p.® 42®51e Ferguson, op® cit®. p® 153®52® Ibid®, p® 179®

122

a.

Figure 23* Interwoven Circles and The Circle of Eternity.a. Interwoven Circles are the Christian

symbol for the Trinity.b. The Circle of Eternity is the

Christian symbol of immortality.

123On the sleeves of- Minerva is the motif of four

Intertwined rings of equal size* in Christian art since the Catacombs [Figure 24], symbols of four elements have represented the Four Evangelists Sto Matthew, St« Mark,Ste Luke and St. John.53 They have often been "shown within •a simple quatrefoil," [Figure 24], as is the case of the four rings on Minerva6s sleeves, or are represented in medallions as a "combination of the square and the quatre- foil."5 it is interesting to note that if straight lines were drawn between the four diamond points of Botticelli8s four-ring motif, they would form a square frame, symbolic in Christian iconology of the earth and of earthly existence^ in which the Evangelists, "as the witnesses and interpre­ters" of the whole Christian Church, spread.the good tidings.5 If this same experiment were applied to the.groups of three intertwined rings on Minerva6s skirt, the three straight lines connecting the points of the rings would form an equilateral triangle with its apex upward [Figure 25]$"one of the oldest of the Trinity emblems."57 The three

53® Webber, p&.__cit., p. 185; Ferguson, pp_°_clt..-p. 154.

54. Webber, op. cit., p. 189®55o Ferguson, pp._clt., p. 153*56. Jameson, op. cit., p. 132.5?. Webber, op. cit., p. 41.

Figure 24. Symbols of the Four Evangelistsa. Found in the Catacombs.b. In Quatrefoils.

125

distinct equal sides resulting in one figure by their union, fsuggests the one and inseparable Divine Essencee 11 The doctrine of the Holy Trinity symbolized by the triangle is summed up in The Athanasian Greed of the C h u r c h »59 it was during the thirteenth century that the three intertwining circles were used, and "the two Latin words Unltas (unity) and Trinitas (trinity)h were inscribed[Figure 25]The diamonded point of the single rings is connected, in each case, to a leaf of a branch= It is, of course, possible, that Botticelli merely meant to decorate the three and four ring motifs by adding the points to them. However, it seems an extraordinary coincidence that corresponding Christian symbols would be produced by connecting the points in each motif, especially in view of the fact that the triangle is a Christian symbol only when its apex is upward,, and in all. of the three-circle designs on the goddess*, skirt, the apex would always be upward»: Thus Botticelli$s use of Identifiable Christianemblems on the dress of Minerva might strengthen the hypothesis that she represents the Mystical Body of Christ: the foundation of the Church.is the Trinity, symbolized by

58. Ibido, p. 42.59• Brantl, op. cite, p. 69.60e : Appleton and Bridges, op. eit., p. 103®

126

a. The Equilateral Triangle is the oldest Christian symbol for the Trinity.

m

[Unllas]

b. Three intertwining circles with the Latin words Unitas and Trinitas inscribed.

Figure 25* The Equilateral Triangle and Three Intertwining Circles Inscribed With Unitas and Trinitas.

12?

the motif of three Intertwined circles? the olive branches entwined around the body and arms» in addition to being the emblem of peace, are "the symbol of the True Vine ® „ ourLord Jesuse In John 15*5* Christ saysi "I am the vine, you are the branches® He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing®u This symbol has been used also to represent "the Christian Church,: which is made up of true believers who must abide in. the True Vine, Jesus Christ ® ® , »The symbol of the Vine conveys the idea of the union of the true Church with her Lord®11 ' The single ring symbolizing eternity connected to the. leaves of the branch, foretell a Heavenly existence for the true believers of the Vine? the interlinked rings around the neck symbolize the two­fold nature of the Church: The Divine mission of Christon earth in human form and the mission of His disciples whom He trained while on earth made "partakers of His own authority ® ®. ® [and] invoked upon them from heaven the spirit of Truth [and] bade them go through the whole world and faithfully preach to all nations what He had taught and what he had commanded <> ® « so that the human race might attain to holiness and never-ending happiness in heaven?1163 the emblem of the four intertwined circles on the arms of

61® Webber, op®_clte, p® 239< 62® Ibid®63«» Brantl, op® clt®, p® 113®

128

the body symbolize the Pour Evangelists, who wrote the first four books of the New Testament, called Gospels, spreading the “glad tidings11 of the Christian Church from its. beginning; the olive wreath on the head symbolizes the “reward of victory ® ® over death, and the peace won byvirtue which conquers over vice” 5 and indicates “the souls of the deceased [who] have departed in the peace of God; the green mantle, draped across and over the body symbolizes the victory of Christ over death by His Resurrection, and the “hope of abundant blessings which the saints shall enjoy here and for all eternity®“ 7 “Green is the 6episcopal color668 of the Christian Church worn by bishops who have spiritual and ecclesiastical supervision®^ Bishops were usually dressed all in green before the sixteenth century, and this color is still used “for their pontifical hat, the lining of their birettas, for the drapery of the bishop8sthrone, for the prle-dieu and its cushion s'1 9 Green is a“liturgical color" in the Church symbolizing immortality,

■ Smith, oEo^cito, p® 183®65® Kmpp, op^clto, P® 12.66e . Ferguson, pp^cit®, p® 35°6?6 Knapp, op®'cit®, p® 12®686 . McCloud, ope cit®, p» 46®69® Ibid®

129

hope, life and growth,and is also the symbol of Spiritual . "regeneration of the soul through good w o r k s ; t h e halberd that Minerva is holding is a weapon used especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries usually consisting of a battle-ax and pike mounted on a handle about six feet long,?2 •and represents the lance, one of Minerva,9s attributes in mythology; but in Christian iconology, the halberd symbolizes martyrdom and the•warrior-martyrs of the Church and is their attribute3 In Matthew 28:18=20, Christ instructs his disciples: "All authority in:. heaven and on earth has beengiven to me® Gor therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all : that I have commanded you® ® ® ®18 . The obligation of the Church is to seek out souls and bring to them the Gospel of Salvation® "The example of the faithful is a fruitful source of converts to the Church* ® * . "The martyrs are particularly credited with winning so many that 9the blood of Martyrs9 is said to be. 9the seed of Christians.9

■ ■ ■ v '■70® Webber, op® cit®, p® 370; Reau, Tome I, op® cit®,P® I36®

71® Ferguson, op® cit*, p® 151® •72® Webster9s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary,

(Springfield, Mass®: G.&C® Merriam Co®, 19057, P® 374°73° Waters, op® cit®, p® 6; Jameson, op® cit®, p® 35$

Ferguson, op* cit®, ppTi27r 175; Webber, op® cit®, p® 359°74® Brantl, op* cit®, p® 159°75® Ibid® •

130

This halberd in Botticelli6s painting resembles a cross with the horizontal arm intersecting the upper and lower arms, being about the length of the upper arm and showing the .lower arm much longer® In Christian religion, the cross is the "Symbol of our redemption, from the apostolic times o e e [and is] the universal emblem of the Christian faith®It signifies f5atenement!S and issalvation and redemption through Christianity® Ea,ny times the five wounds of Christ are represented by five red precious stones: one ateach extremity and a large one in the c e n t e r I n the middle of the halberd in this painting, can be seen what appears to be a large, rectangular gems a sapphire® It is of interest that at the elevation of a.cardinal by the Pope to the College of Cardinals, ,8he receives a ring from the Pope® This ring has a large sapphire® The sapphire is reserved for cardinals as it symbolizes royal honor®"79 The color blue in the Church, "that of the s a p p h i r e , "^0 signifies heaven, heavenly love, truth, constancy and fidelity®^

?6® Jameson, on® cite p® 29®77® Ferguson®:on® cit®» p® 164®78® Jameson, on® cit®, p® 30$ Waters, op® cit®,

p® 10$ Ferguson, op® cit®. p® 164®79® McCloud, op® cit®, p® 133®

: . 80® Waters, pp^_cit®, p® 7®81® Goldsmith® op® cit®. p® 360$ Jameson, op® cit®,

p® 41$ Knapp, op® cit®, p»l4$ Waters,- op® cit®, p® 7$ Ferguson, op® FitTT?® 151: Webber, op® c T t ~ p® 360. - .

131

Jameson and Webber state that the color blue and the sapphireOp ^both symbolize heaven« it would seem reasonable to believe

that if Botticelli did*, indeed* intend the halberd in this painting to have a dual meaning and also represent the cross™-the sign of the Christian Church— he would have depicted a sapphire* emblematic of Heaven and heavenly love* in. the intersection of the arms* rather than a ruby or any other red gem, symbolic of Christas Passion on earth*

Thus, the. action of Minerva lifting up the head of the Centaur by his hair, portrayed by Botticelli in this painting* may be interpreted as having the Christian meaning of the Mystical Body of Christ— the Church— granting Grace: the Ilfe-principle.of Christianity that is the gift of God which confers a new life on souls by allowing them to.share in the life of God Himself,which is able to give peace to the sorrowing sinner*^ The pleading, painful physiognomy of the Centaur has been remarked on by some art historians* Gombrich states in his article Botticelli8s Mythologies:"the Centaur*s suffering expression and the gaze which he turns upon Minerva, the embodiment of Divine Wisdom.Chaste! considers the Centaur "distinctly reminiscent of the

82* On* cit*„ p* 41s on* clt.» p* 372. •83* Brantl, op*„_cit* * p* 116* .84* Webber, on*,„jiit., p* 73^85® Art*_cit_., p® 53®

132

head of St o John In the Museum in Berlin ® o e 0Formaggio and Gombrich have both compared the head of theCentaur to that of John the Baptist in the Coronation of theVirgin* 8"7 it is also of interest to compare the sufferingcountenance of the Centaur with that of St® John in the•§t®_Mra^_Alte^iece$ Uffizi, Florence® [Figure 26]In both, the feelings of misery and distress are poignantlyexpressed® Of this portrayal of St® John, Frederick Harhtremarkst 11 the gaunt Baptist strikes a chill to the heart,looking outward through unfocused eyes glazed with pain®98Of this painting, Lionello Venturi also statess "John theBaptist, one of the most profound and human figures ever •created by an artist® Here we perceive how the deepestabysses of torment and pain may be expressed with artistic

gogracefulnesse"Thus, the Church is raising up man from his mortal,

sinful body by "the most sovereign form of soul in us ® ® * that part which we say dwells in the summit of our body ® ® ®

86® Botticelli, op® oit®, p® 31®8?* Op* cit*. p® 10? art* oit®. p® 53®88® Sandrp„Botticell1, (Mew York: Barry W® Abrams,

Inc®, 1953)» plate 34®89® Lionello Venturi, op® cit*. p® 14®

133

Figure 26. The St. Barnabas Altarulece. Detail.

134

90the head or root of us, «, « .,! and lifts him from eayth toward an abiding union with Christ, "by the continuing revelation through the Spirit, and the continuing visible presence, of His authority for the governing of men through His Churched The CentaurSs "bow is unstrung and his arrows remain in his quiver, signifying.his submission® In Christian ieonology, “The bow is the symbol of war and of worldly p o w e r ® I n Jeremiah 49s 35» this symbol is explainedj “sBehold,8 said the Lord to the Prophet Jeremiah, *1 will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might®6“ The arrow, being an implement of warfare and death, is a symbol of wickedness and sin--the temptation of the Devil— when shown in connection with the b o w . 9 3

Thus man6s desire for worldly power through war has been overcome by the symbol of the unstrung bow, and the sinful temptations of the Devil have become devoid of enticement as evidenced by the position of the arrows in the quiver®

To the right of the Centaur, one sees overhanging rocks supported by what appear to be rough-hewn pillars of rock with a narrow opening between them® In Christian Ieonology “the rock Itself symbolizes the Church® This, symbol: is extremely important because of the unequivocal

90® Plato® Tlmaeus, op® cit®, 90a-90b®91® Brantl, op® cit®, p. 104®92® .Ferguson, op® cit®. p® 171®93® Webber, op®.,_cit®, pp® 229, 36? ? Ferguson,

op® cit®, p® 170®

135

meaning given it by the inscription Petruso"9^ [Rock]The Scriptural foundation of the Church is found inMatthew l6sl6-"19s

Simon Peter replied* "you are the Christ* the Son of the living Coden And Jesus answered him*"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonal For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you* but my Father who is in heaven® And I tell you* you are

. Peter* and on this rock I will /build my church* and the powers of deathrishall not prevail against it® I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven* and whatever you bind.on earth shall.be . bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven®,9

The rook is also a symbol of Christ who is the true Founda-.tlon of the Churchs^^ 1 Corinthians 10$4 "and the Bock wasChrist?88 Ephesians 1 s22=23s "and he [God the Father] hasput all things under his [Christ®s] feet and has made himthe head over all things for the church* which is his body*the fulness of him who fills all in all?" Ephesians 2519=228"the household of God ® « ® Christ Jesus himself being thecornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined togetherand grows into a holy temple In the Lord* in whom you alsoare built into it for a dwelling place of God in theSpirit?88 and I Timothy 3:15? "if I am delayed, you m yknow how one ought to behave in the household of God, whichis the church of the living God, the pillar and .bulwarkof the truthe88 In Psalm 18?2 the rock is used to symbolizeprotection and salvations

94o Van Treeek and Croft* op® c i t e* bo 69®93o Knapp, op® cito* p® 91®

136

The Lord is my rock, and my f ortress $.and my deliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my strongholdeThe Christian meaning of the rocks in this painting

could possibly be interpreted as the founding of the Church by Christ on earth through Peter: “and upon this rook I willbuild my churchen (Matthew 16:18) * Christ*°the Foundation, the Cornerstone, the Pillars, the.Hock of Salvation of the Church on earth, offers protection under the overhanging rocks, but only through the opening between the two “pillars$$ in this painting, is salvation promised to all those who enter inside His Church and become members incorporate of the Mystical Body of Christe Thus the rocks to the left of the Centaur represent the earthly Church that Peter, chosen by Christ, built. Peter is considered as "Prince of the Apostles and Founder of the Church of R o m e ® "96 Christ chose him to be the first leader of His church on earth and changed "his name to Peter-*-the Rock— to show the firm base on which His Church would stand," and he became . the fiVicar of Christ" who is to remain head of the Church through all;time®97 -

96® Jameson, og^cit^V p® 197<•97e Brantl, o£®_cit®, pp® 149, 151*

In the background of the painting a ship can beseen with sails furled® In Christian ieonology* the shipsymbolizes the Church which carries the faithful Christianover the tempest**tossed sea of life under the guidance ofChristss cross, symbolized by the mast, and sails safelyinto porto^® This symbolism of the Church like a shipcontinues in the architectural term of "nave" to describethe main part of the interior of a church and especiallythe long narrow central hall in a cruciform church that

qqrises higher than the aisles flanking it. z The harbor, as indicated by the shore in the background, is a Christian symbol of "eternal life," "and the ships making for the harbor are likened to souls in search of H e a v e n . T h e fence with spiked posts is emblematic of the difficulty that man has in entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. God has put the responsibility on man of obeying His demands, and no one will be saved who, knowing the Church to have been divinely established by Christ refuses to submit to the C h u r c h , b y allowing "the wild beast within" to break out

98. Van Treeok and Croft, op. clt.» pp. 66, 75? . . Appleton and Bridges, op. cit., p. 90?”Knapp, op. cit.,. p. 103r Waters, pp^_cit., p. ”6; Jameson, op ,..clt> , p. 39? Ferguson, op. cit®. p. 181..

99e Appleton and Bridges, op. cit., p. 90.100. Ferguson, op^jsit., p. 42.101. Brantl, op. clt.i p. 158.

138

into a ’’frenzy,’1 cast out the “better.principles” of thesoul and purge "away temperance/8 bringing “madness to thefull/8102 Man must answer for his own actions as they areregarded as "the expression of his being, and by them heis judgedo“ 03 Pl&to states in The Republics

» $ c the life which he chooses shall.be his destiny*Virtue is free, and as a man honors or dishonors her he will have more or less of her; the respon­sibility is with the chooser <** God is. justified.10^So Christ preached to man on earths“No one can serve two masters®Either he must hate one and love the other, or he must hold to one and despise the other® you cannot serve God and Mammon®“

(Matthew 6tZk)“If any man will follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me®

For whosoever will save his life shall lose its and whosoever shall lose his life

for my sake and the gospel shall save it®For.what shall it profit a man if he gain the .whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?“

(John 6:4-8-59):“Do not collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy them, -and thieves break in and steal®But gather for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where no thieves break in and steal®For where your treasure is, there is yourheart also®®“ • (Matthew 6:19-21)

10.2® Plato, The^R^Mic, o^^cit®, p® 266®103® Bultmann, Rudolf, Jesus and the World, trans®

Louise Pettibone Smith and Erminie Huntress Lantero® (New York Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958), p« 95®

104® Op^cito, p. 313®

CHAPTER ?

CONCLUSION

In each of the allegorical paintings by Sandro Botticelli that were analyzed in this study, Venus and Mars, Prlmavera, The Birth of Venus and Minerva and the Centaur, a possible latent Christian signification has been brought to light by the. application of a Christian iconological meaning to the figures and objects that the artist portrayed® A correlation was found to exist between the surface myth­ological interpretation of the pictures and the underlying Christian meaning® This should not be surprising in view of the. Florentine neo~platonic credo that "the pagan world had presentiments of Christianity,"^ and that by the accept­ance of the writings of the classical philosophers as being essentially in communion with the basic tenets of the Church, "historical justification for the Christian faith"2 could be claimed® Thus this rich legacy that the humanists had inherited from Antiquity, being considered a forerunner and prophetic of Christ5s teachings, became fused with Christian

1° Male,' op^ito, p® 138*■ 2® Argan, op® cit®, p« 12®.

139

3theology, and "a Christian-Neo Platonism,“ was evolved*The Platonic Academy In Florence was, "in fact, religiousand in intention definitely Christian"* and its members“remained faithful and devout members of the Roman

hChurch* * * * “■. “Reconciliation of apparent opposites is henceforward

a leitmotif of the Renaissance, and which (as we have seenin the case of Botticelli) is frequently conveyed in thevisual language of art * The allegorical representationsin art, religion and literature through the use of symbolictransformation became the acknowledged method of describing■a subject by means of another which has similar properties ■or circumstances® Thus the secret philosophies of thewisest thinkers of the ancient world with all.theirambiguities and obscurities of their writings were “Christian™ized" and this classical mythology and Christianity wereinterwoven by popular abstruse neo-platonlc symbolism, theknowledge of which was confined to a small circle.of the

6initiated®

/ ' ' /36 Emile Brehler, The Hellenistic and Roman Age, trans® Wade Baskin® (Chicago and London $ The University of Chicago Press, 1965), p® 241®

4® Robb, op* cit®. p.® .62*5® Cantimori, et al®, op® cit®, p® 146®6® Ibid®, p® 24®

ewttoSMrccseesw *

Ik’l

Botticelli was ’'received in the cultured circles formed around Ficino and Landino* and in the Careggi Academy" where the Intellectual elite of the Medici court discussed human culture/ religion. Platonism, philosophy and literature.7 For these humanists,. "as for Botticelli, history was only a prefiguration of contemporary facts and/ persons, an archtype forever renewed in the present, a cohesive set of symbols.Botticelli’s "love of.. Christian® •' ity" and "intimate spirltuality"^enabled him to give visual expression to the "reconciliation of the spirit of antiquity with that of Christianityt! on such a transcendental plane, that the sensitive subtlety and intellectual acuteness of his art were not understood a few years later by his contemporaries« Leonardo da Vinci objected to "Botticelli’s way of . ... assigning an ideological or symbolic value to each element separately.

Botticelli’s "Christian sensibility"^^ and "his religious faith"- enabled him to conceive his allegorical

7« Formaggio; op. cit., p. 6.8. Argan, op. clt., p. 14.9» Lionello Venturi, op. olt., p. 7®10. Burckhardt, op. clt.. p» 377® -11. Argan, op. clt., p. 62®12® Lionello Venturi, op. cit®., p. 15®13® Lionello Venturi and Rosabianca Skira®Venturi,»» p® 193® .. -

works “on the scale and on the plane of religious painting® These paintings are powerful manifestations of symbolic allegory which the artist has used to express profound spiritual thoughts and to appeal to the intellect and heart by its wealth of meaning» Botticelli 6s schemata in his allegorical paintings may at.first seem to be strikingly, out of the ordinary$ involving eccentric contrasts or ineongruites, but the careful observer will understand and appreciate the fact that there is a definite reason for the pictures8 arrangement and will discern the deep and earnest thought and the delicate and poetic conceptions of sacred truths, as well as the gratification and enjoyment to the eye, which Botticelli‘s allegorical paintings offer to the viewer®

14® Gombrieh, Botticelli8s Mythologies, art® cite,p e 42 e

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Appleton, LeRoy H© and Stephen Bridges© Symbolism inLiturgical Art© New Yorks Charles"^Scribner8s Sons 19%© ' " —

Argan, Glulio Carlo©y Botticelli, trans© James Emmons® Lausannes Editions d1Art Albert Sklra, 1957®

Bazin, Germain© Italian Painting in the XXVth and XVthCenturies, trans© Mary Chamot© New Yorks French and European Publications, Inc©, 1938©

, /■ v Bequin, Sylvie, Andre Chastel,.Pierre du Colombier, MichelLaclotte, Andre'' Llnzeler, Paul “-Henri Michel, PeterMurray, Jacques Thuilller. Dictionary of ItalianPainting© New Yorks Tudor Publishing Co©, 1904©

Berenson, Bernard® The Italian Painters of the Renaissance London: The PhaldorTPress, Ltd©, I9S2©

y /Brehier, Emile© The Hellenistic and Roman Age, trans©Wade Baskin© Chicago and Londons The University of Chicago Press, 1965©

Buifinch, Thomas© The Age of Fable© Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, Inc®, 19o5®

Bultmann, Rudolf© Jesus and the Word, trans© Louise Pettibone Smith and Erminle Huntress Lantero.

. New York: Charles Scribner8s Sons, 1958©Burekhardt, Jacob© The Civilization of the Renaissance in

Italy, trans© 8©G®1T© Middlemore© "New^YoST^ Random House, 195^©

Cantlmori, Delio, L© D© Ettlinger, Cecil Grayson, John Hale, Joel Hurstfield, 1© D© McFarlane, Peter Murray, A® A© Parker, G© R© Potter, Nicolai Rubinstein, Roberto Weiss© The Age of the Renaissance, ed© Denys Hay© New York: McGraw-Hill "Book" Company, 1967*

Catholicism, ed© George Brantl, Ph.L©, Ph©D©, nihil obstat John A® Goodwine, J» C© D©, imprimatur: FrancisCardinal Spellman© New York: Washington Square .Press, Inc®, 1965®

143

SELECTED ElBLTOGRAPHY--Continued

: Chaste!, Andrei ■ Art et HmQa.nlsme a Florence au temps deLaurent le Map;nif Iqueo Paris $ Presses uiiiversit- •

. alres de Fi‘a,hee» 19^1e 'e Botticellie Greenwich. Connecticut: New York :Graphic Society, 1958<>> The Age of Humanis™Europe It80-1530„ transe Katherine M*. Delavemy“and eT Mo Gtvyero ” New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc*, 1963®' o The Flowering of the Italian Renaissance, transe Jonathan GriFfin, ed f Andre Malraux" and Georges Salles© New Yorks The Odyssey Press, 1965©

Dante, Alighieri© The Divine Comedy, trans© Lawrence Grant White© New”Yorks Pantheon Books, 1948©

de Varagine, Jacobus© The Golden Legend, trans © William Caxtono Londons J© M« Dent and Company, 1900©

DeWald, Ernest T© Italian Paintingr-1200-1600© New Yorks ■ Holt, Binehart and Winston, 1964©

Didron, Adolphe Napoleon© Christian^Gpno^^h^; or_TheHistory of Christian Art in the Middle Ages, Vol© I and II, trans © E© J© Millington, ed © Margaret Stokes Londons George Bell and Sons., 1891®

Dudley, Donald R© The Civilization of Rome© New Yorks TheNew American Library of World Literature, Inc©, i960

The Essential Augustine, ed© Vernon J© Bourke© New York:The New American Library, 1964©

Ferguson, George© Signs and Symbols in Christian Art©New Yorks Oxford University Press, 1955*

Formaggio, Dino© Botticelli, trans© Paul Colacicchi.New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1961©

/ /Francastel, Pierre© Peinture et Societes Naissance etDestruction dHTn Espace PlastTque de lsT“B.enaissanee

'■ au Cublsme© Lyons Audin Editeur, 1951®

145

SELECTED BIBL10GHAPHT— Continued

Frazer, Sir James.George® The Golden Bough® New York;The Macmillan Company, 1963» -

Gamba. Ca.rlo.s T® Botticelli, tians® Jean Chuzevllle,Paris; Galllmard, 1937®

Gerwig, Henrietta® ^^F^us_Palnterso New York;Tudor Publishing’ Co®„ 1938®

Godfrey, F®. M® History of Italian P8,inting— 1250-1800®New York; Tap],Inger Pub!ishlng Co®, Inc®, 1965®.

Goldsmith, Elizabeth E® Life Symbols® New York; G® P® Putnam5s Sons, 19'2BT“■e Elizabeth® Sacred Symbols in Art® London;

ero»i«;joia -aj®asnMinjtanTOCTeBKCT®aa <g»^BSOg»mtfflfK®McrCT^w^WiStaatoJ=sgc«>gaJtgai3^EKgiaj3>»»a»afeiaanBB.{e5.,-«ara3«K®<3G® P® Putnam and Sons, 1912»Gombrich, E® H® "Botticelli8s Mythologies; A Study in the

Neo-platonic Symbolism of his Circle," Journal of Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vlii. Londons 1945.® Norm and Form— Studies in the Art of the

; Henaissance® "T.ondon; Phaidon“Press7" 19667.® The Story of Art® New Yorks Phaidon Publishers,

4E asgas^^<5a=^.aa^w M B R C T £& gs»giaaat3^ « ®:»^ -m.-3Kes»

'■ Inc®, i960®Gundersheimer, Werner L® The Italian Renaissance® Engle­

wood Cliffs: Prentice-"Hall, Inc®, 19 65®Haig, Elizabeth® The Floral Symbolism of the Great Masters®

London; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co®, Ltd®, 1913®

Hamilton, Edith® The Greek Way to Western Civilization®New York; The New. American Library^ 19627"”". ■

■ . ■ - .... >. Mythology® New York; The New American Library,1942®o The Hornn Way to Western Civilization® New York s. The New American Library of World"Literature, Inc®,1963® '

1A6

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY— Continued

■Hartman* Charles<? The Life of Mary,- Mother of Jesuse New Yorks. Guild Press, 1963^

Hartt, Frederick. Sandro Botticelli. New York: Harry N.Ahrains, Inc., 1953® ,

Homer. The Iliad? trans» Richmond Lattimore. Chicago:tsiiJlsaairjwsSsswas^tjawiMJiMWpwioriai *The University of Chicago Press, 1962.. The Odysseytrans. E. V. Rieu. Baltimore:. Penguin Books, 1962.

Horne, Herbert P. Alessandro Filipepi, Commonly Called Sandro Botticelli, Painter of Florence. London: George Bell and Sons, 3,908®

Huime, Edward F. The History,.Principles and Practice of Symbolism in ChrTstiaiT Art. "Londonf - sV 'Sonhen- scheine and Co., 1891®

Jameson, Mrs. Anna. ^cred„andJ.egeM§rj^4rt, Vol. IBoston and New York: Houghton, Miffin and Company,1857®® Mrs. Anna. . The History of Our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art" Vol. II. London? "Longman, Green

. Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1864.Janson, H. ¥. and Dora Jane Janson. History of Art.

New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1963®^Jayne, Sears. John Golet and Marslllo Picino. London:

Oxford University Press7~T9l>"3./Keats, John. The Poems of John Keats, ed. E. De Selincourt»

New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1905®Knapp, Sister M. A. Justina, O.S.B. Christian Symbols

and How to Use Them. Milwaukee: The iBruce Publish­ing Company, 1938.

Kristeller, Paul Oskar. The Philosophy of Marslllo Ficino,. trans. Virginia Conant. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1943® ;

. . • . . ' - ' ' ■ . ■'■' •Larousse Encyclopedia of Renaissance and Baroaue Art, ed...Rene Huyghe» New Yorks Prometheus Press, 1964.

SELECTED BIBLICGfiAPmr— Continued

Lindsay, Lord0 History of Christian Art, Vole I* London:John Murray,. loX1-?® .

Lucretiuso Of the Nature of Things, transo William ElleryLeonardo New York:' Be/fZ Dutton & Co., inc., 1957®

Male, Emileo Religious Art from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century . New York: ' Pantheon Books,. Inc., "l9%9T" "

Maliauz, Andrei Les Voir du Silence. Paris: La Galeriede la Pleiade, 1951®o The Voices of Silence, trans. Stuart Gilbert.New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1953®

Marcel „ Ra.ymond, Mars lie Flcin. Paris: Societe^ D 8 edition"Les Belles "Lettres,^"1958®

Marie, Raimond van. The Renaissance Painters of Florence,Vole 12. The Hague: Marti bus Nijhoff, 1931®.

.. . ■ lg^QKj^Dbl^l^ Jl§.. ,.P- Qt^^e-gJj-- oyLenJage jt;•; 1a la renaissance et la decoration des demeures.The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1931 *”32.

Martindale, Andrew. Man and the Renaissance. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 196

Mans, Cynthia Pearl. Christ and the Fine Arts. New York and London: Harper and Bros« Publishers, 1938®

Mesnil, Jacques. Botticelli. Paris: A® Michel, 1938.Morey, C. R. Christian Art. New York; W. W. Norton &

Company, Inc., 1958.Murray, Peter and Linda Murray. The Art of the Renaissance.

■ w V1.- e x ta s i^ tz ttG ^ ‘i& ss3sissz5Z!xaxBsiz!ttZisaixM & t& !x& os»aiB*^?!=itNew York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publisher, 19o3®McClinton, Katharine Morrison. Christian Church Art Through

the Ages. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1932. T"McCloud, Rev. Henry J., A.B. Clerical Dress and Insignia

of the Roman Catholic Church® Milwaukee: TheBruce Publishing CompanyT 1948,.

McMullen, Roy. "Botticelli's Primavera,11 Horizon, Vol. X,- Number 2, Spring, I9680

148

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY— -Continued

Newton, Erie and William Neil® 2000 Years of Christian Art* New Yorks Harper & Row© Publishers, Incorporated«1966c

z , . . . . . .Qppe, Adolf Paul© Sandro Botticelli© New York and LondonsRodder and Stoughton, ’n©d©

The Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha—-RevisedStandard Version, ed© Herbert G© May and Bruce M* Metzger© New York: Oxford University Press, 1965®

Panofsky, Erwin© Studies in IconoloRy— Humanistic Themes , In the Art of the Renaissance© New York: OxfordUniversity Press," 1939®

Pfeiffer, Harold A© The Catholic Picture Dictionary©New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce1948©

Plato® Meno, 'trans© Benjamin Jowett© New York: TheBobbs-Merrill Company, Inc©, 1949©

Tlmaeus. trans© Francis M© Cornford© New York: Phe Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc®, 1959®

,c and Other Works, trans© B® Jowett©NeifTSST^DOublidSFaB^C^w/lnc©, i960©

/ /Beau, Louis© loonograpMe de l*Art Chretien, Introduction ■Gen^rale© Tome I© Paris: Presses Universitairesde France, 1955®© Iconoe;raphie de 18Art Chretien, Icono«raphie

— ----- de I T B i t e r ~ f ^ r T n ^ ^ W ~ p S n ^ r ^ i v e r a l -taires. de France, 1957®

Robb, Nesca A©, M©A©, D© Phil© Neoplatonism of the Italian Renaissance© Londons George Allen and Unwin Ltd©, : 1935® ,

Bose, H® J© Religion in Greece.and Rome© New York: Harper and Bow, Publishers, 1959©

Boss, Janet© Lives of the Early Medici as Told in TheirCorrespondence © Londons .Chatto and Windus,’1910®

Bussoli. Franco, Renaissance Painting, trans© Angus • • Malcolm© New^brks*^ The Viking Press, 196.2©

149

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHX— Continued

Salvlnl/ Roberto«. All the Paintings of Botticelli. Parts I, . II, III, IV, trahso John Grillenzoni® New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc«, 1965*

Smith, William, L^LeD® Smithes Bible Dictionaryo New York: Pyramid Publications, Inc®, 19 ?'®

■Spender, Stephen® Botticelli@ London: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 194B®

Steinmann, Ernst® Botticelli, trans® Campbell Dodgson®Bielefeld and Leipzin: Velhagen and Klasing, 1901®

Symonds, John Addington® •• A Short History of the Renaissance in Italy, ed* Lieut® Col® Alfred Pearson® New York: Henry Holt and Co®, 1894®

Renaissance_in Italy = The Pine Arts® Gloucester,Mass®: Peter Smith, !9b7<

Van Treeck, Carl and Aloysius Croft, Symbols in the Church® Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing CbTT^T^O®

Venturi, Llonello® Botticelli® London: Phaidon PressLtd®, 1967®

Venturi, Llonello and Rosabianea Skira-Venturi ® Italian .Painting ="= The Creators of the Renaissance-, trans® ■; Stuart Gilbert® Geneva: Albert Skira, 1950-®

Virgil® The Aeneld, trans® W® F® Jackson Knight ® Baltimore $ Penguin Books, 1956®

Walker, John® National Gallery of Art, Washington® D® C®New Yorks Harry N® Abrams, Inc®, n®d® ' -

Waters, Clara Clement® A Handbook of Legendary and Mytho­logical Art® Boston and New Yorks Houghton,Mifflin and Company, 1896®

Weale, W® H®, James and Maurice W® Brockwell , The Van Eycks and Their Art® London1 John Lane Company, 1912®

Webber, F® R® Church Symbolism® Cleveland: J® H® Jansen, Publisher, MCICSbcVIII® ' • ' •

Webster$s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary® Springf1eld, Mass® : G® & C® Merrlam Company,”1965• "■

150..SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY— Continued

WechsXer9 Herman Jo Gods and Goddesses in Art and Legend* ■ New Yorks Washington Sqmre' Press$ Ino67"l9^i„ .

Wind, Edgarc Pagan Mysteries,,in the Renaissance-® • New Havens Yale University Press, 1958®

Wittkower, Rudolph® uTransformations of Minerva in theRenaissance Imagery,11 Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Ins11tutes, II, 1938-39*

Wolfflin, Heinrich® The Art of the Italian Renaissance, .trans«. Sir Walter Armstrong• New York and London: Go P.® Putnam's Sons, 1928*

Zimmerman, J® E® Dictionary of Classical Mythology»New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc®,1966®