CHAPTER 16 ICONOGRAPHY IE 3: mythological heroes
Jacques rouveyrol
Jacques rouveyrol
What Makes a saint, a hero of mythology or a historical figure? Again, these are signs or attributes or, sometimes, situations that allow recognition of a particular deity or hero.
1. The gods
Jupiter (Zeus): a king, lightning, an eagle or any other appearance. With Europe, it is bull, for the delight with Danae it is golden rain, with Io is a cloud with Leda, the swan. To seduce a mortal he is no appearance that neglects Jupiter.
Mercury (Hermes): wings (the helmet and heels), the caduceus (for Mercury is messenger and doctor).
Diana (Artemis): the crescent moon, the bow and arrows, dogs and even nudity. Diane is yet the most modest of the goddesses. Transformed Actaeon into a stag and devoured by his own dogs to be seen naked at her toilet has learned something. Without doubt, moreover, is by reference to the Metamorphoses of Ovid, that Diane is most often depicted naked and Actaeon if not listed somewhere on the canvas it is probably never absent from the scene. He must then, as in these vignettes published in newspapers of yesteryear, look for the hunter.
Apollo the lyre, bow and arrows, and of course the beauty of a young man. But as Daphne. In the work of Coypel's laurel wreath as the beautiful Victory God. But the tree is there to which Apollo holds out his hand. This tree is Daphne after his metamorphosis.
Minerva (Athena) : a military costume with helmet, spear and shield decorated with Medusa's head. Output while armed from the head of Jupiter, sometimes we find it placed on the head. (Below, right at the top in this table Zucchi)
Vulcan (Hephaestus): forge a robust body even ugly (god Vulcan is lame) and the presence or absence of Venus (his unfaithful wife). God technician, working with his hands on tasks less noble, it has attributes that emphasize its low status.
Neptune (Poseidon) : the trident and the newt. Sea god, Neptune has the appearance of a giant power and manifest unusual. Like his brother Pluto (Hades) God of the dead and guardian of the Underworld (the one and the other in the table above, below, to the left and right).
Bacchus (Dionysus) : wine, wine, festivities and the company of satyrs. It is usually a god and round belly shape, the result of a life devoted to feasts of all kinds.
Venus (Aphrodite) : nudity, Cupid. Goddess of beauty, Venus is naked. Not always, though. The atmosphere of Platonic Renaissance led to distinguish two Venus: one land or vulgar), goddess of earthly love, animal, instinctive. It is dressed (see Botticelli Spring ). The other celestial celebration disembodied love of beauty is precisely naked (see Botticelli's Birth of Venus ) but often "chaste" (see further course on "naked"). This is not the case in the picture by Titian, below.
2. Heroes
Perseus : Wings to the helmet (like Mercury) and a shield decorated with a Medusa's head (as Minerva). Perseus is victorious because of Medusa and was due to shield-mirror that allowed him to behead the woman with hair reptilian without falling under his terrible spell. Then he flies to the rescue of Andromeda Chained to the rock ready to be devoured by the sea monster.
Leda the swan and the twins. Jupiter, in fact, took the shape of a swan to seduce him and the beautiful twins known as Castor and Pollux. Sometimes four children with her: Castor and Pollux, the child of Zeus, Clytemnestra and Helen, those Tyndarus, husband of Leda, the same night and designed a second egg hatched (this is the case in Giampietrino table below).
Io and Argus cow. The love for Io of Jupiter has not gone unnoticed by Juno. To escape the fury of the latter and deceive her vigilance, Jupiter changed Io into a cow. But Juno is not fooled and assigns an effective guardian, Argus, a thousand eyes filled with Mercury only succeed in lulling the vigilance with his music .
Danae: the golden rain which Jupiter is in the form to access it. Perseus born of this union.
Europe: the bull with Jupiter, still took the form to remove it.
Hercules - children: snakes he has the strength, already stifling
.. .............- adult: club, lion skin, the tunic. The first is his favorite weapon, the second is the Lion of Nemea, one of the "work" that Hercules had to perform the third, the tunic of his wife Deianeira, stained with the blood of the centaur and Hercules lead to suicide .
3. allegories.
One thing is to recognize the gods and heroes from their attributes or famous scenes of their unusual lives, another is to recognize allegories. Here, no anecdote, but an "Idea" into image, and which attributes should be relevant to the content of this idea (must be properly symbols).
Caution: a mirror, a snake or even the caduceus. The mirror does not use vain here. And the snake is known precisely for his caution.
Justice: the sword and scales. Only mercy can bend the sword.
Capital: a wheel, the horn of plenty, a globe. The wheel turns and the abundance of today may become the shortage of tomorrow. The globe: it is difficult to balance on it. The three symbols are combined in this painting by Bronzino.
Charity : a woman suckling an infant, or in Roman charity, an old man .
Faith: a chalice, a cross. Obviously.
Wisdom: a torch or Minerva, the goddess used here directly allegorical figure.
Rivers : men lying down, resting on an overturned urn from which water flows.
time: an old man equipped with wings. Complex figure may be accompanied by a stick, an hourglass, a scythe, a child (Chronos devouring his children for fear they did émasculent). Synthetic figure obtained by passing progressive kairos (the decisive moment) and Aion (time as inexhaustible creative principle) Greek, respectively represented with a scale and a razor for the first, wings, a snake and signs Zodiac respectively. Then again by the intersection of these figures with the Greek figure of a Roman Saturn old carrying a sickle and becomes the Middle Ages a sickly old man leaning on a stick or crutches. These are the illustrators of the Triumphs of Petrarch that will ensure the merger of Saturn with time leading to that old man with sickle-winged become false when a final merger with death. (Below, detail of a painting by Tiepolo, Allegory of Venus with Time).
2. Heroes
Perseus : Wings to the helmet (like Mercury) and a shield decorated with a Medusa's head (as Minerva). Perseus is victorious because of Medusa and was due to shield-mirror that allowed him to behead the woman with hair reptilian without falling under his terrible spell. Then he flies to the rescue of Andromeda Chained to the rock ready to be devoured by the sea monster.
Leda the swan and the twins. Jupiter, in fact, took the shape of a swan to seduce him and the beautiful twins known as Castor and Pollux. Sometimes four children with her: Castor and Pollux, the child of Zeus, Clytemnestra and Helen, those Tyndarus, husband of Leda, the same night and designed a second egg hatched (this is the case in Giampietrino table below).
Io and Argus cow. The love for Io of Jupiter has not gone unnoticed by Juno. To escape the fury of the latter and deceive her vigilance, Jupiter changed Io into a cow. But Juno is not fooled and assigns an effective guardian, Argus, a thousand eyes filled with Mercury only succeed in lulling the vigilance with his music . Daphne: laurel (in which it is transformed to escape the attentions of Apollo) and the presence of Apollo.
Danae: the golden rain which Jupiter is in the form to access it. Perseus born of this union.
Ganymede : the eagle. That of Jupiter, in fact, who came off this beautiful teenager for driving with ... Olympia's supreme god.
Antiope: sleep and a satyr. This time, to seduce Antiope, Jupiter takes the form of a Satyr. In the Dick Van table recognizes Antiope 1) that it is asleep, 2) that the satyr is observed 3) witnessed by Jupiter as the eagle that accompanies it.
Europe: the bull with Jupiter, still took the form to remove it. 
Hercules - children: snakes he has the strength, already stifling
.. .............- adult: club, lion skin, the tunic. The first is his favorite weapon, the second is the Lion of Nemea, one of the "work" that Hercules had to perform the third, the tunic of his wife Deianeira, stained with the blood of the centaur and Hercules lead to suicide . 3. allegories.
One thing is to recognize the gods and heroes from their attributes or famous scenes of their unusual lives, another is to recognize allegories. Here, no anecdote, but an "Idea" into image, and which attributes should be relevant to the content of this idea (must be properly symbols).
Caution: a mirror, a snake or even the caduceus. The mirror does not use vain here. And the snake is known precisely for his caution.
Justice: the sword and scales. Only mercy can bend the sword.
Capital: a wheel, the horn of plenty, a globe. The wheel turns and the abundance of today may become the shortage of tomorrow. The globe: it is difficult to balance on it. The three symbols are combined in this painting by Bronzino.
Charity : a woman suckling an infant, or in Roman charity, an old man . 
Faith: a chalice, a cross. Obviously.
Wisdom: a torch or Minerva, the goddess used here directly allegorical figure.
Rivers : men lying down, resting on an overturned urn from which water flows.
time: an old man equipped with wings. Complex figure may be accompanied by a stick, an hourglass, a scythe, a child (Chronos devouring his children for fear they did émasculent). Synthetic figure obtained by passing progressive kairos (the decisive moment) and Aion (time as inexhaustible creative principle) Greek, respectively represented with a scale and a razor for the first, wings, a snake and signs Zodiac respectively. Then again by the intersection of these figures with the Greek figure of a Roman Saturn old carrying a sickle and becomes the Middle Ages a sickly old man leaning on a stick or crutches. These are the illustrators of the Triumphs of Petrarch that will ensure the merger of Saturn with time leading to that old man with sickle-winged become false when a final merger with death. (Below, detail of a painting by Tiepolo, Allegory of Venus with Time).
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