medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
5908
Author: Smith, Janet G.
Title: Santa Umiltà of Faenza: Her Florentine Convent and Its Art [in the early 16th century the Florentines destroyed the monastery of San Giovanni Evangelista, outside the walls, to improve the city's defenses; this house had been founded by the Vallombrosan nun Umiltà of Faenza; much of its surviving art depicts Umiltà with a weasel, the enemy of the serpent, symbol of evil; this animal was displaced in later art by a book, and that too vanished in Counter-Reformation depictions of Umiltà, in which she becomes a generic saint without distinguishing symbols].
Source: Visions of Holiness: Art and Devotion in Renaissance Italy. Edited by Andrew Ladis and Shelley E. Zuraw. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 2001. Pages 37-65.
Article Type: Essay
Subject: Art History- Painting ; Art History- Sculpture ; Florence ; Florence- Monastery of San Giovanni Evangelista ; Lorenzetti, Pietro, Painter ; Monasticism ; Umiltà of Faenza, Mystic and Saint in Art ; Vallombrosan Order ; Weasels in Art ;
Geographic Area: Italy
Thomas Izbicki
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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear listmembers,
I was wondering whether any of you ever came across references to the
attribute shared by the Blessed Virgin Mary and the weasel according to
some medieval sources, i.e. conception through the ear. I am sure most of
you are familiar with the 'conception through the ear' theme that arises
both iconographically and in literature relating to the Annunciation so I
won't go into this in much detail. However, in the Physiologus, it is
reputedly stated that the weasel conceives through the ear and gives birth
through the mouth. What I would be interested in finding out is whether
there are any specific literary or iconographic sources that explicitly
link this beast with the Blessed Virgin and elaborate significantly on the
connection.
In expectant gratitude,
Salvador Ryan,
Department of Modern History
National University of Ireland Maynooth
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