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Sexy weasels in Renaissance art

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Re: Sexy weasels in Renaissance art

#21

Post by seren »

dalbasal wrote: post #13
classichasclass wrote: post #2

Once you see it you can't unsee it, apparently. One wonders what other bizarre cultural subtexts we're missing in other historical art periods.

Michaelangelo's "creation of Adam" depicts God as a human brain. Apparently nobody noticed untill the 90s. It's hard not to see it when you see it. A lot of fun interesting possibilities for deep metaphor. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CA4SF_GUkAAiJ5S.jpg?format=jpg&n... PS: reason for the downvotes? just curious.

I believe this is a case of pareidolia.

While I believe it is credible, Michaelangelo would have seen dissected corpse, I don't think a brain cross section would have been that detailed at that time.

Looking at Da Vinci sketch below, it does not look that similar anymore :

https://neurosciencenews.com/da-vinci-brain-knowledge-11070/

Re: Sexy weasels in Renaissance art

#22

Post by colanderman »

interfixus wrote: post #17
dalbasal wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Michaelangelo's "creation of Adam" depicts God as a human brain. Apparently nobody noticed untill the 90s. It's hard not to see it when you see it. A lot of fun interesting possibilities for deep metaphor. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CA4SF_GUkAAiJ5S.jpg?format=jpg&n... PS: reason for the downvotes? just curious.

I share your curiosity: Who on earth would downvote this? Quirky, interesting new titbit for our collection of trivia and learned matter, thank you.

Probably because of the source (Cracked.com, a humor site, albeit one which does often share interesting knowledge in a quirky way). Downvoters could be reading the post as a joke rather than in earnest.

Apparently it is a legitimate published theory, as noted in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam#Portrayal... So is the theory that the shape represents the postpartum uterus, which seems thematically more fitting.

Re: Sexy weasels in Renaissance art

#23

Post by paulgerhardt »

_4gzn wrote: post #18

When I was a kid, the Leonardo painting was called "Lady with a Weasel". Now they claim it is "Lady with an Ermine". Most probably, though, it is "Lady with a Polecat-Ferret Hybrid".

It's a polecat. No doubt about it.

Leonardo was, among other things, the period's best anatomist. He captured, in charcoal, light bouncing off water like no artist, literally, ever before. He came up with concepts for bridges, armored cars, clocks, and scuba gear. If he wanted to, he could paint an ermine. He chose not to.

Cecilia Gallerani was the 15 year old Kim Kardashian of the era. After multiple incidents with the teenager critiquing Leonardo's ability ("but it does not look like me" she complained - "well yeah" he thought "in reality your chin is much less pronounced and your nose more so"), invitations to pretentious salons she would preside over which he could not decline, and other confrontations with the slippery social climber he decided (at great personal risk) to pull the wool over her eyes a bit and paint her with an animal more inline with her behavior.

Her lover (and Leonardo's patron) did likely see through all this. Ludovico Sforza was a savvy guy, and having gone on his share of hunts (not to mention being a member of the Knights of Ermine), also would know the difference between a spade and a shovel as it were, but his life was further complicated by a marriage to a different 15 year old later that year. The best he could do was come up with a pretense to not show the painting too widely amongst the cognoscenti - which is exactly what happened.

Re: Sexy weasels in Renaissance art

#25

Post by Isamu »

_4gzn wrote: post #18

When I was a kid, the Leonardo painting was called "Lady with a Weasel". Now they claim it is "Lady with an Ermine". Most probably, though, it is "Lady with a Polecat-Ferret Hybrid".

I always saw it labeled as "Lady with Ermine", but since they are the same thing both are fine.

Although Wikipedia says the term Ermine is used more when talking about an all-white stoat.

Usually you see the white fur-lined cloaks referred to as Ermine. And in heraldry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermine_(heraldry)

With the fur, for some reason it was fashionable to keep a black-tipped tail, so you see in contemporary paintings and in heraldic devices the periodic black spots in a field of white.

Re: Sexy weasels in Renaissance art

#26

Post by mcguire »

masklinn wrote: post #9
miguelmota wrote: post #8

Had no idea that dead weasels were used as fashion items. That is a very interesting website, some freaky stuff on there.

> A zibellino, flea-fur or fur tippet is a women's fashion accessory popular in the later 15th and 16th centuries. A zibellino, from the Italian word for "sable", is the pelt of a sable or marten worn draped at the neck or hanging at the waist, or carried in the hand. The plural is zibellini. Some zibellini were fitted with faces and paws of goldsmith's work with jeweled eyes and pearl earrings, while unadorned furs…

Take note of the name: flea-fur. IIRC, the idea was that fleas, lice, and other parasites would jump onto the fur rather than you.

I doubt it worked, but people weren't any smarter back then, either.

Re: Sexy weasels in Renaissance art

#29

Post by darkpuma »

jacquesm wrote: post #15
FearNotDaniel wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's very poetically written but I think you might be neglecting the fact that one of the monk's primary duties was (and still is) to lead a life of prayer, and in their worldview this is very much an ongoing spiritual battle against Satan and all his demons who are continuously attempting to overthrow the kingdom of God, mostly by tempting the people of the surrounding lands into sin or by allowing their opponents…

> an ongoing spiritual battle against Satan and all his demons who are continuously attempting to overthrow the kingdom of God, mostly by tempting the people of the surrounding lands into sin or by allowing their opponents to prevail Sure, but that's all make-believe; snails are real .

> Sure, but that's all make-believe

Not from the perspective of many (but not all) monks. I think you're having a theory of mind failure here.

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