YesNo, you better watch out.:lol:
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YesNo, you better watch out.:lol:
Diana was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis.
http://www.theoi.com/image/K6.3Artemis.jpgQuote:
According to a tradition which Pausanias (viii. 37. § 3) found in Aeschylus, Artemis was a daughter of Demeter, and not of Leto, while according to an Egyptian story (Herod. ii. 156) she was the daughter of Dionysus and Isis, and Leto was only her nurse. But these and some other legends are only the results of the identification of the Greek Artemis with other local or foreign divinities.
Artemis as the sister of Apollo, is a kind of female Apollo, that is, she as a female divinity represented the same idea that Apollo did as a male divinity. This relation between the two is in many other cases described as the relation of husband and wife, and there seems to have been a tradition which actually described Artemis as the wife of Apollo. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1197.
As Apollo was not only a destructive god, but also averted the evils which it was in his power to inflict, so Artemis was at the same time a thea sôteira; that is, she cured and alleviated the sufferings of mortals. Thus, for instance, she healed Aeneas, when he was wounded and carried into the temple of Apollo. (Il. v. 447.) In the Trojan war she sided, like Apollo, with the Trojans. The man whom she looked graciously upon was prosperous in his fields and flocks, his household was thriving, and he died in old age. (Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 129, &c.)
Artemis is moreover, like Apollo, unmarried; she is a maiden divinity never conquered by love. (Soph. Elect.1220.)
When Apollo was regarded as identical with the sun or Helios, nothing was more natural than that his sister should be regarded as Selene or the moon, and accordingly the Greek Artemis is, at least in later times, the goddess of the moon.
The Arcadian Artemis is a goddess of the nymphs, and was worshipped as such in Arcadia in very early times.
The Taurian Artemis. The legends of this goddess are mystical, and her worship was orgiastic and connected, at least in early times, with human sacrifices.
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/ArtemisMyths.html
ARTEMIS POTNIA THERON
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenze, Florence, Italy
Date: ca 570 - 560 BC
Period: High Archaic
SUMMARY
Detail of Artemis, here depicted as the Potnia Theron (Lady of the Beasts), from the Francois Vase. The goddess is winged, and grasps a panther (or lioness) and stag by the neck.
http://www.theoi.com/image/T61.1Marsyas.jpg
MARSYAS & ARTEMIS
Museum Collection: Metropolitan Museum, New York City, USA
Date: ca 400 BC
Period: Classical
SUMMARY
Detail of Artemis and Marsyas from a painting depicting the satyr's contest with the god Apollon. Marsyas holds a skinning knife, and rests his elbow on a pillar inscribed with his name. He has the usual features of a satyr: horse-tail, horse-ears and snub nose. Artemis holds a pair of hunting spears and wears her hair tied back with ribbons in a ponytail.
http://www.theoi.com/image/F6.1Artemis.jpg
SACRIFICE IPHIGENEIA
Museum Collection: Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Naples, Italy
Date: C1st AD
Period: Imperial Roman
SUMMARY
Iphigeneia is dragged to the altar by two soldiers as a sacrificial offering to Artemis. One either side stand her father, King Agamemnon, and grieving mother Klytaimnestra. In the heavens Artemis summons one of her Nymphs to bring a stag to substitute for the girl.
The fresco may be based on a painting by C4th BC Greek artist Timanthus.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eochares_2.jpg
The Diana of Versailles a 2nd Century marble statue of Diana, copied from an earlier Greek original.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Callisto01.jpg
Titian, Diana and Callisto
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Tizian_001.jpg
Titian, Actéon and Diana
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ouvre_2712.jpg
François Boucher (1703–1770), Diana leaving her bath.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Rubens_025.jpg
Rubens, Diana and her nymphs surprised by Satyrs.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ianeClouet.jpg
François Clouet (1515–1572),Diana Bathing
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...tan_Museum.jpg
Pompeo Batoni (1708–1787), Diana and Cupid
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lue_sky%29.jpg
Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), Diana and her Companions
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e_of_Diana.JPG
Villa Durazzo Pallavicini - Temple of Diana. Pegli, Italy
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._archimede.jpg
La Fontana di Diana a Siracusa, in Piazza Archimede, Italy
This one reminds me of the story in Ovid where the hunter caught Diana in her bath and she turned him into one of the animals they were hunting at the time and his friends proceeded to chase him. His dogs catch him as is pictured to the right in the background.Quote:
Originally Posted by ftil
Yes. In François Clouet's Bath of Diana (1558-59) Actaeon's passing on horseback at left and mauling as a stag at right is incidental to the three female nudes.Quote:
Originally Posted by YesNo
Quote:
Actaeon, in Greek mythology, son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, was a famous Theban hero. Like Achilles in a later generation, he was trained by the centaur Chiron.
He fell to the fatal wrath of Artemis, but the surviving details of his transgression vary: "the only certainty is in what Aktaion suffered, his πάθος, and what Artemis did: the hunter became the hunted; he was transformed into a stag, and his raging hounds, struck with a 'wolf's frenzy', tore him apart as they would a stag." This is the iconic motif by which Actaeon is recognized, both in ancient art and in Renaissance and post-Renaissance depictions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaeon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._CA3482_n2.jpg
Painter of the Woolly Satyrs, Louvre Museum
Actaeon's death. Artemis drives a chariot drawn by a team of deer. To the right a man reports Actaeon's death to his parents Aristaeus and Autonoe. The scene is probably based on Aeschylus' lost play The Toxitides, which dealt with the story of Actaeon. Side A from an Attic red-figure volute crater, ca. 450–440 BC.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...px-Actaeon.jpg
Actaeon by Titian
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._1603-1606.jpg
Giuseppe Cesari (1568–1640),
Diana and Actaeon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...on_Caserta.jpg
Actaeon in Caserta
http://www.theoi.com/image/M16.1Gryps.jpgQuote:
The Griffin was a beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. A tribe of the beasts guarded rich gold deposits in certain northern or eastern mountains. Their one-eyed neighbours--the Skythian Arimasp tribe--battled them for these riches.
http://www.theoi.com/Thaumasios/Grypes.html
GRIFFIN
Museum Collection: Antikensammlungen, Munich, Germany Date: ca 515 - 500 BC
Period: Archaic
SUMMARY
Detail of decorative Gryps (Griffin). One stands beneath each handle of the vase.
http://www.theoi.com/image/K12.8Dionysos.jpg
THE CHARIOT OF DIONYSOS
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
Date: ca 400 - 390 BC
Period: Late Classical
SUMMARY
Dionysos drives a chariot drawn by three beasts: a panther, bull and Gryps (griffin). The god is crowned with a wreath of ivy leaves and holds a thyrsos (pine-cone tipped staff) in one hand.
http://www.theoi.com/image/K5.7Apollon.jpg
APOLLO RIDING GRYPS (GRIFFIN)
Museum Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria Date: ca 380 BC
Period: Late Classical / Early Hellenistic
SUMMARY
Apollo rides sidesaddle upon the back of a Gryps (Griffin), a winged, eagle-headed lion. The god strums a lyre with one hand and holds a laurel branch in the other.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...slamico000.jpg
The Islamic Pisa Griffin, in the Pisa Cathedral Museum
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...wschodniej.jpg
Cathedral Oliva, Poland
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...n_Marco%29.jpg
Mosaic floor in St. Mark's Basilica
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._a_griffin.jpg
Statue of a griffin at St Mark's Basilica in Venice.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._juli_2003.JPG
Heraldic guardian griffin at Kasteel de Haar, Netherlands
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...czecin_SZN.jpg
Griffin,Szczecin Poland
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...h_Griffins.jpg
Banffy Palace Eastern Facade with Griffins
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nschild%29.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...thaus_BW_2.jpg
Berlin, Konzerthaus, Dachfigur: Apollo in einem von Greifen gezogenen Wagen (Apollo and Griffin)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...n_2008-07c.jpg
Griffin on bridge in Gryfice, Poland
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...et_parc_11.JPG
Griffon, Karlsruhe, Allemagne
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...useGriffin.JPG
Griffin at entrance to Seward House in Auburn, NY
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...%A2teau_24.jpg
Compiègne, France: Château de Compiègne
Griffins are in many Coat of Arms. I didn't know that princess Diana also had a griffin. :brow:
Coat of Arms of Diana,Princess of Wales
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...dry%29.svg.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eDameParis.jpg
Notre Dame
http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_...8881ccddf4.jpg
St. Jean's Cathedral in Perpignan.
Let's look at god Pan again.
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PAN was the god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. He wandered the hills and mountains of Arkadia playing his pan-pipes and chasing Nymphs. His unseen presence aroused feelings of panic in men passing through the remote, lonely places of the wilds.
Pan was depicted as a man with the horns, legs and tail of a goat, and with thick beard, snub nose and pointed ears. He was often appears in the retinue of Dionysos alongside the other rustic gods. Greeks in the classical age associated his name with the word pan meaning "all". However, it true origin lies in an old Arkadian word for rustic.
Herodotus, Histories 2. 153. 1 (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"Among the Greeks, Herakles, Dionysos, and Pan are held to be the youngest of the gods . . . and Pan the son of Penelope, for according to the Greeks Penelope and Hermes were the parents of Pan, was [first worshipped in Greece] about eight hundred years before me [Herodotus], and thus of a later date than the Trojan war . . . Had Dionysus son of Semele and Pan son of Penelope appeared in Hellas and lived there to old age, like Herakles the son of Amphitryon, it might have been said that they too (like Herakles) were but men, named after the older Pan and Dionysus, the gods of antiquity; but as it is . . . for Pan, the Greeks do not know what became of him after his birth. It is therefore plain to me that the Greeks learned the names of these two gods later than the names of all the others, and trace the birth of both to the time when they gained the knowledge."
Virgil, Georgics 1. 16 ff (Roman bucolic C1st B.C.) :
"Pan, guardian of the sheep, leaving your native woods and glades of [Mount] Lycaeus, as you love your own Maenalus, come of your grace, Tegean lord!"
Homeric Hymn 19 to Pan 1 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th - 4th B.C.) :
"Pan, the shepherd god (theos nomios), long-haired, unkempt.
PAN GOD OF PANIC
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10. 23. 7 (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"During the night there fell on them a panic. For causeless terrors are said to come from the god Pan."
PAN GOD OF RUSTIC MUSIC
Homeric Hymn 19 to Pan (Greek epic C7th - 4th B.C.) :
"At evening, as he [Pan] returns from the chase, he sounds his note, playng sweet and low on his pipes of reed: not even she could excel him in melody--that bird who flower-laden spring pouring forth her lament uters honey-voiced song amid the leaves.
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 17. 69 ff :
"He [the shepherd Brongos] played Pan's wellknown tune on his pipes."
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 17. 376 ff :
"The herdsman Pan sang loudly, pouring out his victorious note, drawing on the Satryoi (Satyrs) to dance drunkenly after their war."
PAN COMPANION OF DIONYSUS
Ovid, Fasti 1. 391 (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)
They discovered a grove suitable for party pleasures and sprawled on grass-lined couches. Liber [Dionysos] supplied wine . . . Naiades were there . . . Some generate tender fires inside the Satyri, others in you, whose brow is bound with pine [Pan]."
SACRED PLANTS & ANIMALS
Pan's animals were the goat and tortoise. Plants sacred to him included the pine-tree (see the story of Pitys above), the water-reed (see the story of Syrinx), as well as the mountain beech.
http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Pan.html
Quote:
In the Mystery cults of the highly syncretic Hellenistic era Pan is made cognate with Phanes/Protogonos, Zeus, Dionysus and Eros.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_%28god%29
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...0px-PanGod.jpgQuote:
Neopaganism
In 1933, the Egyptologist Margaret Murray published the book, The God of the Witches, in which she theorised that Pan was merely one form of a horned god who was worshipped across Europe by a witch-cult. This theory influenced the Neopagannotion of the Horned God, as an archetype of male virility and sexuality. In Wicca, the archetype of the Horned God is highly important, as represented by such deities as the Celtic Cernunnos, Indian Pashupati and Greek Pan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_%28god%29
Sculpture of Pan
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ANA_-_Faun.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._London_01.jpg
Pan (1959) by Jacob Epstein, Edinburgh Gate, Hyde Park, London
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-Satiro_Se.jpg
Satyr in the organ of the Braga Cathedral, Braga, Portugal.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...n_building.jpg
The bust of a satyr. Sculpture at the entrance of a building in Paris. Rue Madame, Paris VI.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._mit_Satyr.JPG
Johannes Peschel - Frau mit Satyr am Hotel Bellevue in Dresden.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ttaglio_08.JPG
Let's make more connections.
Quote:
Geb was the Egyptian god of the Earth and a member of the Ennead of Heliopolis. In later times he could also be depicted as a ram, a bull or a crocodile. Frequently described mythologically as 'father' of snakes. Geb also often occurs as a primeval divine king of Egypt from whom his 'son' Osiris and his 'grand-son' Horus inherited the land after many contendings with the disruptive god Seth, brother and killer of Osiris. In the Heliopolitan Ennead (a group of nine gods created in the beginning by the one god Atum or Ra), Geb is the husband of Nut, the sky or visible daytime and nightly firmament, the son of the earlier primordial elements Tefnut.Geb was believed to have originally been engaged in eternal sex with Nut, and had to be separated from her by Shu, god of the air.[2] Consequently, in mythological depictions, Geb was shown as a 'man' reclining, sometimes with his phallus still pointed towards the sky goddess Nut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geb
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._end_Nut01.jpg
Quote:
The Horned God in India and Europe
Author: Neil MacGregor Campbell
Copyright © 2000. Brought to you by http://indianpaganism.4dw.com: Indian Paganism - A Comparative Exploration into Pagan and Indian Religion, Myth and Culture.
Pashupati is the Horned God of the Indus Valley, of the great Harappan city culture that developed from a village culture approximately 6000 years ago, in northern India and what is now Pakistan. At its peak it was a civilization which covered a huge expanse, an area which was twice as large as that of the Egyptian kingdom and approximately four times the size of Sumer and Accad. Yet the remains of this once great metropolis were only discovered in 1856 when workers were building a railway and discovered that the rubble was pieces of bricks from some unknown building' s remains. The railway work was stopped, however it was not until 60 years later that proper excavations began to take place on the city now known as Harappa. Later a second great city was discovered in the Valley, that of Mahenjo Daro, which archaeologists estimate had a population of 35,000, equal to that of Harappa.
However despite continuing excavations little is actually known for certain about the religion of this culture. The socio-religious structure remains unknown, as does any ritual practices, or festival times. What has been discovered in the remains of this civilization is strong evidence of worship of a Mother Goddess and also that of a Horned God.
Mythological reference to the Horned God Pashupati can be found in ancient Indian and Nepalese scriptural texts. The legend of Pashupati can be found in reference to the Indian God Shiva, of whom Pashupati is referred to as being the proto-type. In the Skanda Purana it tells how the God Shiva used to love a great forest called the 'Sleshmantaka Forest' . It was here that Shiva spent so much time being emersed in 'the wilderness of this forest in merry-making assuming Himself the form of a deer'.
What the Indus Valley seals of the horned God suggest is that there is an undeniable connection between the horned God Pashupati and the horned God of the Celts, Cernunnos. This connection between the two is best illustrated by comparing a couple of the Indus Valley seals to the depiction of Cernunnos on the Gundestrup Cauldron (dated between 4th - 1st Century BCE).
Cernunnos on the Gundestrup Cauldron
If we examine the Pashupati seals we find a very similar scene. Again we find the horned God in a yogic posture surrounded by animals. These are thought to be a tiger, a rhinoceros, an elephant, a bull and below him is the musk deer.
Also, on some of these seals we find that the God' s penis is visibly erect and the testicles prominent. The seat that Pashupati is on supported by two appears to be hour-glass shaped double drums known as 'damaru'. In Asia today these drums are often associated with Indus Valley script, its secrets
remaining a mystery.
Today in India the God Shiva, of whom Pashupati is considered to be the proto-type , is offered worship through the linga (the phallus). In Shiavite temples what is more common than a s tatue of Shiva is a stone linga, usually with a yoni (the vulva). This is known as the Shivalinga and the first Shivalinga in existence, according to one legend, is said to have arose from the earth in the Sleshmantaka forest, the forest of Pashupati. What is believed to be Shivalingas have also been found in the href="http://www.harappa.com">Harappan remains, evidence that the cult of the linga has been practiced for thousands of years.
Shivalinga
Other potential connections in the images of the horned Gods can be found within the symbolism of the horned serpent.
Shiva
Moon associations can also be found on the horns of both Pashupati and Cernunnos. On the horns of Cernunnos are fourteen tines, or points, seven being on each horn. The same number is to be found on the stag's horns which are almost touching his own. In total there are twenty-eight tines which equate to the number of days for the moon to complete one full turning. Pashupati's horns also share moon symbolism and in the later form of Shiva, Goddess symbolism can still be found on the head. However in Shiva it is not horns to be found but a crescent moon. As the horns are a symbol of the moon and the Goddess, what is found then is the same symbolism, though expressed in a slightly different manner. In Shiva we can see the ancient horned God alive and loved by millions of Hindus, though his appearance has been altered by Indian culture as it progressed over thousands of years.
So what does this all mean? We have two images of the Horned God one from northern Europe dated between 400-100 BCE, the other from northern India dated between 2000-3000 years BCE. The images are separated by almost three thousand years of history and by four and a half thousand miles of mountains, land and sea, and yet they have a startling similarity. Furthermore there appears to be connections between Cernunnos and Pashupati in the form of Shiva (and possibly also the Hindu God Rudra who is considered to be a form of Shiva). Is it possible that Cernunnos and Pashupati were once the same deity who spread from one Pagan culture to another?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Pashupati.jpgQuote:
Neopaganism
In 1933, the Egyptologist Margaret Murray published the book, The God of the Witches, in which she theorised that Pan was merely one form of a horned god who was worshipped across Europe by a witch-cult.[38] This theory influenced the Neopagannotion of the Horned God, as an archetype of male virility and sexuality. In Wicca, the archetype of the Horned God is highly important, as represented by such deities as the Celtic Cernunnos, Indian Pashupati and Greek Pan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_%28god%29
The Shiva Pashupati, seal with the seated Shiva figure termed Pashupati
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...p_Cauldron.jpg
The "Cernunnos" type antlered figure on the Gundestrup Cauldron.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Cernunnos.jpg
Cernunnos on the Pillar of the Boatmen
This outline of categories of Indo-European Deities is based on work by Celtic Scholar, Raimund Karl.
Interestingly enough, god Deb like god Pan is called God of the Earth.Quote:
http://www.druidry.org/obod/deities/index.html
THE GOD OF THE TREE FRUIT in Celtic mythology or spirituality is Cernnunos. In Greek mythology is Dinysos.
EARTH FATHER in Celtic is Cernnunos again. In Greek is Pan and Dionysos. As I have shown earlier Dionysos was god of ritualistic madness, orgy, and wine.
Secondly, DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME CONTROLLER OF THE UPPER REALM in celtic are Lugh and Cailleach -Queen of Air and Darkness.
In Greek Daytime and Night time Controller of Upper Real is Hermes and Apollo. Interesting, isn’t it?
So, let’s look at druid mythology about Cernnunos that resembles Shiva.
THE GOD IN THE WILD WOOD
His limitless root web growing deep into secret earth and Underworld.. Through the forest stillness they come, whispering wings and secret glide, rustling leaves, and silent step, the first Ancestors, the Oldest Animals, to gather around Him: Blackbird, Keeper of the Gate; Stag of Seven Tines, Master of Time; Ancient Owl, Crone of the Night; Eagle, Lord of the Air, Eye of the Sun; and Salmon, Oldest of the Old, Wisest of the Wise leaping from the juncture of the Five Springs.
The god whose eyes flash star-fire, whose flesh is a reservoir of ancient waters, His cells alive with Mystery, original primeval essence. Naked, phallus erect, He wears a crown of antlers limned in green fire and twined with ivy. In his right hand the Torq of gold, testament of his nobility and his sacred pledge. In his left hand the horned serpent symbol of his sexual power sacred to the Goddess. Cernnunos in His Ancient Forest, His Sacred Temple, His Holy Grove, Cernnunos and His children dream the Worlds.
Cernnunos worked his magic when the first humans were becoming. Our prehistoric ancestors knew him as a shape-shifting, shamanic god of the Hunt.
He is oldest of the Ancient Ones, first born of the Goddess. At the time of First Earth, Cernnunos grew in the womb of the All Mother, Anu, waiting to be born, to come forth to initiate the everlasting, unbroken Circle of Life.
Cernnunos, as The Horned God, Lord of the Animals is portrayed as human or half human with an antler crown. Though he wears a human face his energy and his concerns are non-human.
In his Underworld aspect Cernnunos is The Dark Man, the god who dwells in the House Beneath the Hill, the Underworld.
Pan, lusty Satyr god of the Greeks is another aspect of the Horned God. "Pan is a proud celebration of the liberating power of male erotic energy in its purest and most beautiful form." He is portrayed as playful and cunning, but He also has a darker, dangerous nature.
In modern times he is often called the God of the Witches and embodies uncorrupted masculine energy. A masculine energy that is fully-developed and in balance with the natural world.
As Lord of the Dance He is present in the billions and billions of infinitely small movements that make up the seemingly chaotic Dance of Life, the Dance of Making and Unmaking. He is truly the Life that never, never dies, for even as nothingness he is self-originating. He is triple as She is triple. He is Cernnunos: Father, Son, and Wild Spirit.
.
http://www.druidry.org/obod/deities/cernunnos.html
Are we talking about the same god? :lol:
I am not the only one who likes mythology. Pope Gregory XIII loved it too.:D
We see ram and the serpent that is chasing or devouring its tail is called Ouroboros.
http://nikolasschiller.com/images/gr...medal-1582.jpg
GREGORIUS XIII PONT(IFEX) OPT(IMUS) MAXIMUS ANNO RESTITUTO MDLXXXII
(Year of Restitution 1582)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...o_XIII.svg.png
http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Monum...I-calendar.jpg
Tomb of Gregory XIII
Interesting that a Pope would use such symbolism. I would have expected other symbols such as crucifixes.
In exploring iconography in art it is essential that you bear in mind just how artists came upon or chose a given theme of iconography. Prior to the development of art in 17th century Holland as a commercial endeavor in which art entered the marketplace and was aimed at an upper-middle-class audience, art was largely a product produced for the aristocracy and the church. Works of art were the result of commissions. The patron would contract with a master and member of the local guild of painters, sculptors, weavers, etc... for a given subject. The patron was purchasing a Madonna or a Crucifixion and not a Fra Angelico or a Botticelli. Only as the Renaissance evolved did we come upon the notion of contracting for the work by a specific artist... but even then, it was with the idea of having a specific image made... not simply anything by an artist of name value.
Some of the artists working under the patronage system were literate and highly educated (Brunelleschi, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Durer, etc...) but many were not. As a result, the artists commonly used established models of iconography and symbolism provided by the guilds and/or the patrons. In a great many instances, the artists worked with a scholar in working out the iconography. The Church was obviously the largest patron and had no end of scholars (monks, priests, etc...) who might work with an artist in planning the iconographic details. Aristocrats commonly employed at least one scholar whose duties might include educating the children, managing the library, purchasing new books, and overseeing the iconography in paintings.
Among the obvious sources of iconography was the Bible, followed by Ovid's Metamorphoses, which was perhaps the second most influential work upon the themes and subject matter and iconography employed by artists. Chapbooks and encyclopedias of iconography established proper symbols, dress, as stance for given figures. The Virgin Mary, for example, was to appear in blue, the color of royalty by virtue of the fact that the top quality blue paint was more costly than gold, produced from crushed gemstones (Lapis Lazuli). She might wear red as an undergarment with the blue robe covering. She was never to wear red as her outer robe or have red hair as red suggested sex and the scarlet woman. Neither was green, the color of fertility, permitted.
I distrust placing too much emphasis upon iconography and questions as to why an artist employed a given symbol for the simple reason that visual artists are not scholars or writers. In most instances, they are far more interested in the formal, visual aspects of a work of art than in all the symbolism and iconography. When confronting a given narrative, the focus is far more likely centered upon the larger drama, the emotions of the characters, and the mood or atmosphere of the whole. Artists are far more attuned the the play of one color against another, the motion of line, and the drama of light and dark than they are to symbolic details. Unfortunately, art history is largely written by scholars, whose "language" is found in words rather than images.
There was certainly a shift in the 20th century toward the notion of artist/scholars as a result of the shift in the education of artists away from the ateliers and art schools and toward colleges and universities. One might argue that this is a huge factor in why we have so many artists who can cite Foucault and Derrida and Walter Benjamin but who can't create a memorable image. Picasso was undoubtedly the greatest and most influential artist of the Modern era. He created an endless array of memorable and iconic images without ever having made a scholarly study of art and iconography.
Artists undoubtedly look at art differently than scholars.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6187/...626aeaed_z.jpg
An artist looking at this painting will likely focus upon the marvelous repetition of serpentine line, the sensuality of color, and the blurring of details or edges in order to reinforce the atmosphere of sensuality. They will also admire the mastery of simplified structure of form and anatomy and the rich layering of colors and patterns in which the figure and ground virtually merge into one. All of this will be far more important than any questions of social narrative (Is the woman a prostitute... or working class? Is this a brothel? Is the artist inferring that the viewer is a voyeur?
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6070/...aea5023e_b.jpg
The same would be true in looking at an older painting... laden with symbolism. One of the most popular images on the Sistine... at least with artists... is the Libyan Sibyl. Again, few artists care one bit for the mythology of the sibyls, for the symbolism of the book and the putti, etc... Rather, the artist's eye is drawn to the absolute gorgeous play of colors, the magnificent abstraction of anatomy conveying motion in an almost cubist or futurist manner, the brilliance of the line or gesture moving through the figure.
I simply raise some points as questions... or suggestions that you might wish to explore how artists look at works of art... their focus and intentions... before making assumptions from a scholar/writer's point of view.
Firstly, I don’t make any assumptions. LOL! In my introduction, I wrote that I will not influence the reader as I want the reader to make own conclusions. I use art in a very different way as you do, and luckily, I am not a scholar so that I am free from any influences. I question how scholars can make assumptions about other artists work. They may try to sit in artist’s head but from a psychological point of view it is a serious problem. :brow: They may analyze color and line but this is all what they can do. They can’t analyze emotional states of the artists. Only the artist can talk about it.
Regarding symbols, I would rather trust myself and my ability and passion to do research. I strongly believe that we need to start thinking for ourselves and make a good use of our brains. Otherwise, we are just repeaters and followers. I have never been one and I encourage others to do the same. Thirdly, I like to look at ancient artifacts and read mythology first. Then I look at paintings through centuries. The themes and symbols are the same. If you look at Micheal Parkes, Valdimir Kush, Michael Cheval, or Wojtek Siudamk, to name a few, you will see the same themes and symbols. I want the reader to make own connections.
I have found fascinating to see the same images and themes in all religions and in all continents. Please, don’t forget that we are not at school where we have to follow others teachings. Finally, by watching art we connect our right and left brain and many people have both hemispheres disconnected so that we can have another benefit from art. I try to use words as less as possible to keep the reader in a right brain. You want them to be in a left one. LOL!
Let's go back to snakes. It is more than I thought. :biggrin5:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...9/Abraxas3.jpgQuote:
The word Abrasax which is far more common in the sources than the variant form Abraxas, was a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the “Great Archon”, the princeps of the 365 spheres.
The word is found in Gnostic texts such as the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, and also appears in the Greek Magical Papyri. It was engraved on certain antique gemstones, called on that account Abraxas stones, which were used as amulets or charms.
There are similarities and differences between such figures in reports about Basilides' teaching, ancient Gnostic texts, the larger Greco-Roman magical traditions, and modern magical and esoteric writings. Opinions abound on Abraxas, who in recent centuries has been claimed to be both an Egyptian god and a demon.[3] The Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung wrote a short Gnostic treatise in 1916 called The Seven Sermons to the Dead, which called Abraxas a God higher than the Christian God and Devil, that combines all opposites into one Being.
According to E. A. Wallis Budge, "as a Pantheus, i.e. All-God, he appears on the amulets with the head of a **** (Phœbus) or of a lion (Ra or Mithras), the body of a man, and his legs are serpents which terminate in scorpions, types of the Agathodaimon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraxas
Gemstone carved with Abrasax, obverse and reverse.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...familjebok.png
Engraving from an Abrasax stone.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/rrm/img/pl03.jpg
GNOSTIC GEMS.
Talismans, Magical Charms, and Invocations.
This Plate is illustrative of the Mysteries of the Gnostics.
"ABRAXAS," or the Chief Deity in his Manifestations.
Quote:
Carl Jung (Seven Sermons to the Dead)
Abraxas is an important figure in Seven Sermons, a representation of the driving force of individuation (synthesis, maturity, oneness), referred with the figures for the driving forces of differentiation (emergence of consciousness and opposites), Helios God-the-Sun, and the Devil.
"There is a God about whom you know nothing, because men have forgotten him. We call him by his name: Abraxas. He is less definite than God or Devil....
"Abraxas is activity: nothing can resist him but the unreal.... Abraxas stands above the sun[-god] and above the devil.... If the Pleroma were capable of having a being, Abraxas would be its manifestation."
—2nd Sermon
"That which is spoken by God-the-Sun is life; that which is spoken by the Devil is death; Abraxas speaketh that hallowed and accursed word, which is life and death at the same time. Abraxas begetteth truth and lying, good and evil, light and darkness in the same word and in the same act. Wherefore is Abraxas terrible."
—3rd Sermon
Quote:
Aleister Crowley
Abraxas is invoked in the The Gnostic Mass of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica:
IO IO IO IAO SABAO KURIE ABRASAX KURIE MEITHRAS KURIE PHALLE. IO PAN, IO PAN PAN IO ISCHUROS, IO ATHANATOS IO ABROTOS IO IAO. KAIRE PHALLE KAIRE PAMPHAGE KAIRE PANGENETOR. HAGIOS, HAGIOS, HAGIOS IAO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraxas
Let's look Mithra and Ra.Quote:
Aleister Crowley 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley
http://htmlimg3.scribdassets.com/80t...4ca0a7/000.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ing_Tomcat.jpg
God Ra
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-_WGA04460.jpg
Annibale Carracci, God Pan and Diana
Let's continue with serpent-footed monsters.
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The GIANTS, they say, were serpent-footed, had a thousand hands, and being huge they were also invincible in their might. Some have said that the GIANTS were born in Phlegrae or Pallene, which is the westernmost of the three peninsulas jutting into the Aegean Sea from Chalcidice.
The GIANTS were born from the flowing blood which fell upon the earth after the Castration of Uranus, performed by Cronos. But it has also been told that Gaia, vexed because the OLYMPIANS had defeated the TITANS, gave birth to a race of GIANTS so that they should attack heaven, and obtain revenge.
These GIANTS did attack heaven (see Gigantomachy), and as an oracle had declared that none of the them could perish at the hands of the gods unless a mortal could help them, these summoned Heracles 1 to their aid, and the GIANTS were destroyed.
http://www.maicar.com/GML/GIANTS.html
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Giants
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word (coined 1297) commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes (Greek "γίγαντες"[1]) of Greek mythology.
In various Indo-European mythologies, gigantic peoples are featured as primeval creatures associated with chaos and the wild nature, and they are frequently in conflict with the gods, be they Olympian,Nartian, Hindu or Norse.
There are also accounts of giants in the Old Testament, most famously Goliath. Attributed to them are extraordinary strength and physical proportions.
Roman mythology
Several Jupiter-Giant-Columns have been found in Germania Superior. These were crowned with a statue of Jupiter, typically on horseback, defeating or trampling down a Giant, often depicted as a snake. They are restricted to the area of south-western Germany, western Switzerland, French Jura and Alsace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...familjebok.png
Zeus fight Giant, Pergamon
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Typhon also Typhoeus, Typhaon or Typhos was the last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, and the most deadly monster of Greek mythology. He was known as the "Father of all monsters"; his wife Echidna was likewise the "Mother of All Monsters."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...tre_Typhon.jpg
Combat de Zeus contre Typhon
http://www.ayhantuncer.com/images/fe...phrodisias.jpg
Istanbul Archaeological Museum - Gigantomachy (the battle among the Greek gods (at the left side is depicted Athena) and the Giants. Hellenistic art of the Roman period, 2nd century AD. From Aphrodisias. Picture by: Giovanni Dall'Orto.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._28-5-2006.jpg
Istanbul Archaeological Museum - Gigantomachy (the battle among the Greek gods and the Giants. Hellenistic art of the Roman period, 2nd century AD. From Aphrodisias. Picture by: Giovanni Dall'Orto.
http://www.theoi.com/image/Z43.1AGigantes.jpg
WOUNDED GIGANTE
Museum Collection: Villa Romana del Casale (in situ), Piazza Amerina, Sicily, Italy
Date: ca 320 AD
Period: Imperial Roman
SUMMARY
Detail of a Gigante from a mosaic depicting the death of the giants in their war against the gods. The serpent-footed monster is pierced by an arrow.
http://www.theoi.com/image/Z43.1Gigantes.jpg
WOUNDED GIGANTES
Museum Collection: Villa Romana del Casale (in situ), Piazza Amerina, Sicily, Italy
C
Date: ca 320 AD
Period: Imperial Roman
SUMMARY
A group of serpent-footed Gigantes felled by the arrows of the gods.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...3px-Geryon.jpgQuote:
In Greek mythology, Geryon; Ancient Greek son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa, was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. A more literal-minded later generation of Greeks associated the region with Tartessos in southern Iberia.[2]
Geryon was often described as a monster with human faces. According toHesiod Geryon had one body and three heads, whereas the tradition followed by Aeschylus gave him three bodies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geryon
A Gustave Doré wood engraving of Geryon for Dante's Inferno
Dore's art reminds me about William Blake's paintings.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-Reddragon.jpg
The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Blake_003.jpg
The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...kebeast1bg.jpg
The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea
Let's look at The Judgement of Paris.
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythol...ris2Rubens.jpgQuote:
At about this time the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the hero and the sea-goddess, was celebrated on Mount Pelion. All the gods and goddesses were invited, with the noted exception of Eris, the Goddess of Strife, who was hideous and disagreeable. Angered at being left out of the nuptuals she strode into the middle of the wedding feast and threw a golden apple into the assembled company. It landed between the three most powerful goddesses, Hera, Athene and Aphrodite. Picking it up, Zeus found it was inscribed ‘For the Fairest’. Wisely deciding not to judge between the three deities himself, Zeus nominated the beautiful Paris as arbiter, but first he sent Hermes to enquire whether he would be willing to act as judge. Paris agreed and so a time was set for the three goddesses to appear to him on Mount Ida.
When the day came, Paris sat himself on a boulder and waited with beating heart for the arrival of the three great deities. All at once a great light appeared which covered the entire mountain. At first Paris was blinded, but then the goddesses cloaked their light in cloud so that he was able to look at them. First Hera, the great queen, approached him and flaunted her beauty in front of him. Radiant with glory she made him a promise. If he awarded her the apple, she would grant him wealth and power. He would rule over the greatest kingdom on earth. Paris felt the excitement of this and his ambition rose up and yearned for her gift.
After that, grey-eyed Athene approached him, drawing near and bending down, so that he might look into the magical depths of her eyes. She promised him victory in all battles, together with glory and wisdom - the three most precious gifts a man could have. This time Paris felt his mind leap with excitement and with desire for the riches of knowledge and the glory of prowess.
Then it was the turn of Aphrodite. Hanging back a little, she tilted her head so that her hair fell forward, concealing a blush on her face. Then she loosened the girdle of her robe and beneath it, Paris caught sight of her perfectly formed breast, white as alabaster.
Paris,’ she said, and her voice seemed to sing inside his head. ‘Give me the apple and in return I will give you the gift of love. You will possess the most beautiful woman in the land, a woman equal to me in perfection of form. With her you will experience the greatest delights of love-making. Choose me, Paris, and she will be yours.’
Then Paris, overpowered by the intoxication of her words and her beauty, found himself handing her the apple without even pausing to reflect on his decision, guided only by the strength of his desire.
So it was that Paris awarded the Apple of Discord to Aphrodite, and Hera and Athene became his implacable enemies. True to her promise, Aphrodite gave him Helen, the most beautiful woman living on the earth at that time - but, in order to enjoy her, he had to snatch her from her powerful husband, Menelaus. So began the terrible ten-years’ war between the Trojans and the Greeks in which many a brave hero lost his life, including Paris himself, and after which the great hero Odysseus wandered the seas for a further ten long years before returning home.
http://www.livingmyths.com/Greek.htm
The Judgement of Paris, Peter Paul Rubens
http://www.paleothea.com/Pictures/ParisWtewael.jpg
The Judgement of Paris, by Joachim Wtewael.
http://www.philipresheph.com/demodok...en/helen34.jpg
The Judgement of Paris, William Blake
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythol...aulCezanne.jpg
The Judgement of Paris, Paul Cézanne
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythol...ParisBalen.jpg
The Judgement of Paris, Hendrick von Balen
http://www.philipresheph.com/demodokos/helen/helen8.jpg
The Judgement of Paris
Engraving after Raphael
Marcantonio Raimondic.
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/D...entParis50.jpg
Salvador Dali, The Judgment of Paris.
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythol...entOfParis.jpg
The Judgment of Paris, The Hague, Geneva and Brussels contest for the Golden Apple of the League of Nations