{"id":24879,"date":"2025-02-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beculture.it\/?p=24879"},"modified":"2025-01-29T12:49:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T11:49:32","slug":"animals-in-renaissance-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beculture.it\/en\/animals-in-renaissance-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Dogs, cats and exotic species: animals in Renaissance art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A newfound interest in nature and the legacy of medieval symbolism are the keys to interpreting Renaissance paintings in which animals appear<\/strong>. The figurative art of this period focuses on a realistic depiction of the world while still preserving the rich repertoire of metaphors and allusions inherited from earlier times. As a result, cats, dogs, birds, and exotic species make their appearance in the works of 15th<\/sup> and 16th<\/sup> century painters, carrying meanings that can sometimes seem obscure to us today<\/strong>. This brief journey through Renaissance zoology helps us decode those meanings and better understand the artists\u2019 intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dog, humanity\u2019s most loyal friend<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to think of a more common animal than the dog, which in Western tradition has almost always held a positive connotation. Dogs appear in both religious and secular iconography, but they are especially recognized as a symbol of loyalty<\/strong> in 15th<\/sup> and 16th<\/sup> century portraiture.
A well-known example is the The Arnolfini Portrait <\/em>by Jan van Eyck (1434, National Gallery, London). A small dog stands in the lower part of the painting, right where the couple\u2019s joined hands are, a clear reference to marital fidelity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Arnolfini Portrait<\/em>, Jan van Eyck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A similar meaning appears in depictions of single figures, such as the Ritratto di Eleonora Gonzaga, duchessa di Urbino<\/em> (c. 1537) and the Venere di Urbino<\/em><\/a> (1538), both painted by Tiziano<\/a> and now housed in the Galleria degli Uffizi<\/a> in Florence.\u00a0
Although these two canvases differ greatly, they share the presence of a little dog curled up beside each woman, symbolizing constancy and devotion in love<\/strong>. This is hardly surprising, given Tiziano\u2019s fondness for this animal, which he depicted in over 30 variations across his works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Venere di Urbino<\/em>, Tiziano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yet the dog hasn\u2019t always been portrayed solely with positive attributes. A good example is the Giovane cavaliere<\/em> by Vittore Carpaccio, which was mistakenly attributed to D\u00fcrer until 1919. There are two dogs in the painting: one stands near the mounted knight in the background, symbolizing loyalty once again, and another, a stray and threatening dog, sits at the foot of a tree on the right. This second dog represents the adversities the knight has yet to overcome<\/strong>, contrasting with the knight\u2019s purity of heart, symbolized by the white ermine in the lower left corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ritratto di Eleonora Gonzag<\/em>a, Tiziano Vecellio (lh); Giovane cavaliere<\/em>, Vittore Carpaccio (rh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cat, a portent of misfortune<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As is well known, cats and dogs don\u2019t get along very well, and this notorious rivalry is depicted in some representations of the Ultima Cena, where the two animals face off under the table to illustrate strife and hostility. Cats are also frequently associated with betrayal (and thus often placed at Giuda\u2019s feet), the devil, and lust.
An emblem of impurity<\/strong>, the cat also appears on the wooden platform in San Gerolamo nello studio<\/em> by Antonello da Messina (c. 1475, National Gallery, London), right below a dirty towel that conveys the same meaning. Opposing the cat are the lion – an iconographic attribute of the saint<\/a>, visible to the right in shadow – and the two birds in the foreground: a partridge, linked to San Girolamo, and a peacock symbolizing purity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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San Gerolamo<\/em>, Antonello da Messina (lh); Annunciazione di Recanati<\/em>, Lorenzo Lotto (rh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the Annunciazione <\/em>by Lorenzo Lotto (1527, Pinacoteca Comunale in Recanati), the cat stands out for its spontaneity and adds a dash of measured humor to the scene<\/strong>: it jumps away, startled by the commotion caused by the angel\u2019s sudden appearance announcing Christ\u2019s birth to Mary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ermine, symbol of female purity and chastity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t see what agitates the ermine in the famous portrait Dama con l\u2019ermellino<\/em> by Leonardo Da Vinci<\/a> (1490, Czartoryski Museum in Krak\u00f3w), as it squirms in the arms of Cecilia Gallerani. In reality, the creature is a ferret – since true ermines cannot be domesticated – but it evokes chastity and purity: according to an ancient belief, an ermine would die if its pristine white coat were ever stained. For this reason, it can also be associated with the Virgin Mary and other virgin saints, who are sometimes depicted wearing ermine fur.In Leonardo\u2019s portrait, the little animal enhances the virtues of Ludovico Sforza\u2019s (the Duke of Milan) young mistress, herself a poet and close to the intellectual circles of the time. Besides underscoring her courtly qualities, the ermine also carries special meanings<\/strong>: it is one of Ludovico\u2019s emblems, and its Greek name (gal\u00e9<\/em>) echoes the first letters of Gallerani, subtly suggesting the subject\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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La Dama con l’ermellino<\/em>, Leonardo Da Vinci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The horse: between celebration and doom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Renaissance portraits of knights, kings, and nobles on horseback serve a distinctly celebratory function<\/strong>. The horse itself was a subject of close observation by Leonardo da Vinci and earlier by Paolo Uccello, as seen in his majestic triptych, La Battaglia di San Romano<\/a><\/em>. Yet a horse can symbolize more than just strength and vitality; it can also take on negative connotations<\/strong>. This is the case with the pair of horses depicted by Hans Memling in his Diptych with the Allegory of True Love<\/em> (1485\u20131490), now split between New York and Rotterdam. On the panel in Rotterdam, we see a dark horse, originally turned toward the lady in the American panel, and a white horse drinking with a monkey on its back. The monkey alludes to base appetites that force the horse to give in to instinct, rejecting noble love in favor of raw passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Battaglia di San Romano<\/em>, Paolo Uccello (Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Battaglia di San Romano<\/em>, Paolo Uccello (Paris, Louvre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Battaglia di San Romano<\/em>, Paolo Uccello (London, National Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Horses, moreover, can be possessed by the devil<\/strong> – who can even have hooves like a horse – and thus need deliverance. That is precisely the task of Sant\u2019Egidio in the predella of the pala di San Marco by Botticelli<\/a> (1490\u20131492, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence). The scene of Miracolo di Sant\u2019Egidio<\/em> shows the saint shoeing the severed hoof of a demon-possessed horse – featured in the same panel – to heal the animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pala di San Marco<\/em>, Botticelli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The goldfinch, symbol of Christ\u2019s sacrifice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Besides the dove, the traditional symbol of the Holy Spirit, other birds enliven 16<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong> century paintings<\/strong>. One of these is the goldfinch, a small bird with brightly colored plumage that, in religious works, serves as a foreshadowing of Christ\u2019s Passion<\/strong>. According to tradition, its Latin name, carduelis<\/em>, derives from its fondness for thistles – spiky plants that evoke the crown of thorns.That symbolism is evident in the Madonna col Bambino e San Giovannino<\/em>, detta Madonna del Cardellino<\/em> by Raffaello<\/a> (1506, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence), where a young Giovanni presents a fragile goldfinch to the Ges\u00f9 under the watchful eye of the Virgin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Madonna del Cardellino<\/em>, Raffaello<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The parrot, a many-tongued creature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to its remarkable ability to mimic human speech, the parrot – an exotic species – carries mainly positive connotations and is often linked to the Virgin Mary and the Annunciation<\/strong>. Hans Baldung Grien\u2019s intriguing painting The Madonna with the parrots<\/em> (c. 1527, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg) illustrates this symbolism: it was thought that parrots could say the word \u201cAve,\u201d the archangel Gabriele\u2019s greeting to Maria, which explains the bird\u2019s presence near the nursing Christ Child. Meanwhile, a second parrot biting the Virgin\u2019s neck is believed to reference the Immaculate Conception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Battesimo di Cristo<\/em>, Giovanni Bellini (sx); The Madonna with the parrots<\/em>, Hans Baldung (rh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Battesimo di Cristo <\/em>by Giovanni Bellini (1500\u20131502, Church of Santa Corona, Vicenza), a striking red parrot appears next to San Giovanni, representing the saint\u2019s prophetic role<\/strong> – like the parrot, he repeats someone else\u2019s words (in his case, God\u2019s).<\/p>\n\n\n