a late antique religious symbol in works by holbein and titian

8/11/2019 A Late Antique Religious Symbol in Works by Holbein and Titian

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A Late Antique Religious Symbol in Works by Holbein and TitianAuthor(s): Erwin Panofsky and Fritz SaxlSource: The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 49, No. 283 (Oct., 1926), pp. 177-181Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/863048 .

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of

brushwork

in

the

St.

Benedetto

Crucifixion,

and

from the more

rounded forms of the S.

Ranierino

one,

are nearest to the first

period

of

Giunta's

art,

that

is

to

his

Assisian

period.

Assuming

that,

is

it

not

quite

natural

that

we

cannot

help surmising

that

our two little

panels

may possibly

be

the

stray

remnants

of

that

Crucifixion

by

Giunta which was ordered

by

the

Franciscan

monk

Frate

Elia

in

I236

and

was

hanging in the Church of St. Francis at Assisi

in

the

place

of

honour,

over

the entrance

to

the

choir,

until the

beginning

of

the

seventeenth

century? Wadding,

in his

Franciscan

annals,

describes

the

work

and

says

that

in

1625

it was

removed

to

the

western wall and attached

there

of

brushwork

in

the

St.

Benedetto

Crucifixion,

and

from the more

rounded forms of the S.

Ranierino

one,

are nearest to the first

period

of

Giunta's

art,

that

is

to

his

Assisian

period.

Assuming

that,

is

it

not

quite

natural

that

we

cannot

help surmising

that

our two little

panels

may possibly

be

the

stray

remnants

of

that

Crucifixion

by

Giunta which was ordered

by

the

Franciscan

monk

Frate

Elia

in

I236

and

was

hanging in the Church of St. Francis at Assisi

in

the

place

of

honour,

over

the entrance

to

the

choir,

until the

beginning

of

the

seventeenth

century? Wadding,

in his

Franciscan

annals,

describes

the

work

and

says

that

in

1625

it was

removed

to

the

western wall and attached

there

so

precariously

that it fell from a

considerable

height

and

was

broken

to

pieces.

Unluckily

Wadding,

whilst

quoting

the

long

inscription

on that

Crucifixion,

does

not

give

any

details

of

the

image itself-though

he

mentions the

por-

trait

of Frate Elia

at

the

Lord's feet-and

so we

are

deprived

of evidence

that

might

have

con-

firmed our

hypothesis.

However,

we

know

of no

evidence

contradicting

it and

if

it

proves

to

be

right, then our own little panels are rarities in

a double sense:

not

only

are

they

the

work

of

a

great

Italian

master,

standing

in the

very

threshold

of the

Italian

Renaissance,

but

they

are

actually

portions

of that

achievement

of

the

artist

on

which

his

historical

fame

is

based.

so

precariously

that it fell from a

considerable

height

and

was

broken

to

pieces.

Unluckily

Wadding,

whilst

quoting

the

long

inscription

on that

Crucifixion,

does

not

give

any

details

of

the

image itself-though

he

mentions the

por-

trait

of Frate Elia

at

the

Lord's feet-and

so we

are

deprived

of evidence

that

might

have

con-

firmed our

hypothesis.

However,

we

know

of no

evidence

contradicting

it and

if

it

proves

to

be

right, then our own little panels are rarities in

a double sense:

not

only

are

they

the

work

of

a

great

Italian

master,

standing

in the

very

threshold

of the

Italian

Renaissance,

but

they

are

actually

portions

of that

achievement

of

the

artist

on

which

his

historical

fame

is

based.

A LATE

ANTIQUE

RELIGIOUS

SYMBOL IN

WORKS BY

HOLBEIN

AND TITIAN

BY ERWIN

PANOFSKY

AND FRITZ

SAXL

A LATE

ANTIQUE

RELIGIOUS

SYMBOL IN

WORKS BY

HOLBEIN

AND TITIAN

BY ERWIN

PANOFSKY

AND FRITZ

SAXL

601

'OT

very

long

ago

D. von

Hadeln

published

in

this

magazine1

a

picture

ascribed

to Titian of

delight-

ful

quality

as a

painting,

but

pro-

vokingly enigmatic

in

respect

of its

iconographical

content. It

represents-after

the

fashion

of

the

Trinity

and

anti-Trinity

as

represented

in

mediaeval

art2-"

a

kind of

triple

Janus-head,"

consisting

of the

countenance of

a

middle-aged

man in full

face,

the

profile

to

left

of

an

old

man,

and

the

profile

to

right

of a

youth.

Underneath

we

see,

in

a

precisely

corre-

sponding

order,

and

evidently

connected with

the

three human

heads,

three

heads of

animals,

that of a

dog

going

with

the

young

man's

head,

that of a lion with

the head of the

man,

and

that

of a

wolf with

the old

man's

head.

Hadeln has explained this picture as a repre-

sentation of

the

three

ages,

and

assumed

that

the

animals'

heads

are

"

merely

a

symbolical

expansion

"

of

this idea.

"They

are

meant

to allude

to the

subtlety

of old

age,

the

vigour

of

manhood,

and

probably

the

frivolity

of

youth."

But no

support

is

to be

found

else-

where

for

such

an

interpretation

of

these three

heads of

animals,3

and besides it

is

evident from

1

BURLINGTON

AGAZINE,

924,

p.

I79;

PI.

II

B.

Our

sincere

thanks are due to

Mr.

Campbell Dodgson

for

having

called

our

attention

to this

picture

and to

its

resemblance to the

metal-cut to be

described below.

2

A rather

early example

of this

"

Trinite

Satanique"

(I3th

century)

is

reproduced

in the

"

Catalogue

raisonne

de

l'Architecture,"

by

Viollet-le-Duc s.v.

"

Trinitd."

As

a

later

one

we

may

cite the

celebrated

drawing by

Griinewald,

pre-

served in the Kupferstichkabinett at Berlin. This type seems

derived from a

pagan

one:

cf.

some

altars

preserved

at

Reims,

to which Mr.

Erdmann,

Hamburg,

calls our attention

(ill.

in

Espdrandief,

Recueil

gdndral

des

Bas-Reliefs

de la Gaule

Romaine,

I907

s.s.,

V.

No.

3651

s.s.

3

No doubt

there are

numerous

examples

both in literature

and

art

for

parallels

being

drawn between certain animals

and

certain

ages

(an

example

is

given

by

v.

Hadeln

himself;

others

may

be found

in

F.

Boll,

"

Die

Lebensalter,"

I913,

pp. 9-1o

and

22,

note),

but there is no

case

in

which ther?

601

'OT

very

long

ago

D. von

Hadeln

published

in

this

magazine1

a

picture

ascribed

to Titian of

delight-

ful

quality

as a

painting,

but

pro-

vokingly enigmatic

in

respect

of its

iconographical

content. It

represents-after

the

fashion

of

the

Trinity

and

anti-Trinity

as

represented

in

mediaeval

art2-"

a

kind of

triple

Janus-head,"

consisting

of the

countenance of

a

middle-aged

man in full

face,

the

profile

to

left

of

an

old

man,

and

the

profile

to

right

of a

youth.

Underneath

we

see,

in

a

precisely

corre-

sponding

order,

and

evidently

connected with

the

three human

heads,

three

heads of

animals,

that of a

dog

going

with

the

young

man's

head,

that of a lion with

the head of the

man,

and

that

of a

wolf with

the old

man's

head.

Hadeln has explained this picture as a repre-

sentation of

the

three

ages,

and

assumed

that

the

animals'

heads

are

"

merely

a

symbolical

expansion

"

of

this idea.

"They

are

meant

to allude

to the

subtlety

of old

age,

the

vigour

of

manhood,

and

probably

the

frivolity

of

youth."

But no

support

is

to be

found

else-

where

for

such

an

interpretation

of

these three

heads of

animals,3

and besides it

is

evident from

1

BURLINGTON

AGAZINE,

924,

p.

I79;

PI.

II

B.

Our

sincere

thanks are due to

Mr.

Campbell Dodgson

for

having

called

our

attention

to this

picture

and to

its

resemblance to the

metal-cut to be

described below.

2

A rather

early example

of this

"

Trinite

Satanique"

(I3th

century)

is

reproduced

in the

"

Catalogue

raisonne

de

l'Architecture,"

by

Viollet-le-Duc s.v.

"

Trinitd."

As

a

later

one

we

may

cite the

celebrated

drawing by

Griinewald,

pre-

served in the Kupferstichkabinett at Berlin. This type seems

derived from a

pagan

one:

cf.

some

altars

preserved

at

Reims,

to which Mr.

Erdmann,

Hamburg,

calls our attention

(ill.

in

Espdrandief,

Recueil

gdndral

des

Bas-Reliefs

de la Gaule

Romaine,

I907

s.s.,

V.

No.

3651

s.s.

3

No doubt

there are

numerous

examples

both in literature

and

art

for

parallels

being

drawn between certain animals

and

certain

ages

(an

example

is

given

by

v.

Hadeln

himself;

others

may

be found

in

F.

Boll,

"

Die

Lebensalter,"

I913,

pp. 9-1o

and

22,

note),

but there is no

case

in

which ther?

the

inscription

on

the

picture

that

the

artist's

intention

was to

symbolize

not

so much

the

three

ages

of

human

life

as

the

triple

divisions

of time into

past,

present

and future: " ex

praeterito

praesens prudenter

agit,

ni

futura

actione

deturpet."4

This text not

only points

the

way

to the

iconographical

exegesis

of

the

picture,

but

also

gives

the first

clue to

its

historical

explanation.

It

is not

by

accident

that Titian

does not content himself with

merely

naming

the

three

divisions

of

time,

but

also

views them

under

the

moral

aspect

of

"

prudentia,"

and

makes

them

as

it

were,

sub-

ordinate

to this

aspect.

The

present,

learning

from the

past,

is

to act

prudently,

in

order not

by

its

action

to

injure

the

future.

This

point

of view

corresponds

to a

deeply

rooted tradition

of scholastic moral theology, of which countless

examples

could be

adduced,

which

perceives

in

the three

divisions

of

time-past,

present,

future-the

specific

domain

of that

virtue,

to

which

the

"

prudenter

"

of the

inscription

on

the

picture plainly

alludes. "

Tripartita

per-

lustrat

tempora

vita

"

is said o.f

Prudence

in

is the

slightest

resemblance

in

such

parallelism

to

that

repre-

sented

by

Titian

(the

dog,

for

instance,

regularly

belongs

to

old

age,

not

youth).

We

may

add

the XVI

century

reliefs

at

Annaberg,

in

Saxony

(Gallery

of

Church),

symbolizing

the

ages

of males

and females

by

several

animals in

an almost

satirical

way:

Ages

Male Animals

Female Animals

io

years

calf

quail

20

years

he-goat

pigeon

30

years

bull

magpie

40 years lion peahen

50

years

fox

hen

60 years

wolf

goose

70

years

dog

vulture

80 years

cat owl

go

years

donkey

bat

death

-

-

4

The words

of

the

inscription

are so distributed that

they

serve as

mottos for

the

several

heads,

while

forming

never-

theless

a connected

sentence.

the

inscription

on

the

picture

that

the

artist's

intention

was to

symbolize

not

so much

the

three

ages

of

human

life

as

the

triple

divisions

of time into

past,

present

and future: " ex

praeterito

praesens prudenter

agit,

ni

futura

actione

deturpet."4

This text not

only points

the

way

to the

iconographical

exegesis

of

the

picture,

but

also

gives

the first

clue to

its

historical

explanation.

It

is not

by

accident

that Titian

does not content himself with

merely

naming

the

three

divisions

of

time,

but

also

views them

under

the

moral

aspect

of

"

prudentia,"

and

makes

them

as

it

were,

sub-

ordinate

to this

aspect.

The

present,

learning

from the

past,

is

to act

prudently,

in

order not

by

its

action

to

injure

the

future.

This

point

of view

corresponds

to a

deeply

rooted tradition

of scholastic moral theology, of which countless

examples

could be

adduced,

which

perceives

in

the three

divisions

of

time-past,

present,

future-the

specific

domain

of that

virtue,

to

which

the

"

prudenter

"

of the

inscription

on

the

picture plainly

alludes. "

Tripartita

per-

lustrat

tempora

vita

"

is said o.f

Prudence

in

is the

slightest

resemblance

in

such

parallelism

to

that

repre-

sented

by

Titian

(the

dog,

for

instance,

regularly

belongs

to

old

age,

not

youth).

We

may

add

the XVI

century

reliefs

at

Annaberg,

in

Saxony

(Gallery

of

Church),

symbolizing

the

ages

of males

and females

by

several

animals in

an almost

satirical

way:

Ages

Male Animals

Female Animals

io

years

calf

quail

20

years

he-goat

pigeon

30

years

bull

magpie

40 years lion peahen

50

years

fox

hen

60 years

wolf

goose

70

years

dog

vulture

80 years

cat owl

go

years

donkey

bat

death

-

-

4

The words

of

the

inscription

are so distributed that

they

serve as

mottos for

the

several

heads,

while

forming

never-

theless

a connected

sentence.

17777

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Fig.

i.

Prudentia. Pavement of

Duomo,

Siena.

(Ann.

Archeol,

1856,

p.

132 )

Fig.

2.

Prudentia.

Cod.

Casanat,

1404,

Fig.

3.

Saturn

with three

heads.

Cod. Vindob.

2372,

fol.

46

v.

Fig.

4.

Representation

of

Sarapis,

interpreted

as

"

Sun."

(Pierio

Valeriano,

Hieroglyphica.)

Fig. 5.

The

"Signum

triciput

"

of

Sarapis

(Hypnerotomachia

Polyphili,

I499,

fol.

y

i

r).

the

Ambros.

MS.

published

by

Schlosser,5

for

within

it

the

Schoolmen

are wont

to

distin-

5

"

Jahrbuch

der

Kuntsammlungen

d.Allerh.

Kaiserhauses,"

XVII,

1896,

p.

20.

The Prudence

by

Ambrogio

Lorenzetti

(Siena,

Pal.

Pubblico)

holds

a

burning

brazier

with three

flames,

inscribed:

Praeteritum,

Praesens,

Futurum.

guish

three

partial

forces

(memoria,

intelli-

gentia,

providentia),

the

business of

which

it

is to

preserve

the

past,

to

recognize

the

present,

and to look

forward

into the

future.6

Prudence

is

therefore often

represented

with

three

or

at

least

two

heads,

the

age

of the

faces,

correspond-

ing

to the divisions

of

time

towards

which

they

are

respectively

directed,

being

differentiated in

a

manner

which

almost

resembles

Titian'

mode of representing the subject7 (Fig. I.)

or

else she

holds

a

disc with

three

divisions

in

her

hand,

on which

is

written

"tempus

praeteritum,"

"

tempus

praesens,"

"

tempus

futurum,"'

or

lastly

she

handles

three

books,

on

the

open

pages

of

which

we can

read the

ad-

monition: "

intellige

praesentia,

pertinet

ad

intelligentiam

";

"

praevide

futura,

pertinet

ad

providentiam

";

"

memorare

pra terita,

pertinet

ad

memoriam

"9

(Fig.

2).

Thus the

subject

painted

by

Titian

can be

connected

with

the

circle of ideas

belonging

to

mediaeval moral

philosophy,

from

which the

combination

"

past,

present

and

future as a

system

to

which

prudence

applies

"

is

obviously

taken.

This

verification,

however,

suffices

only

to

explain

the

upper part

of

the

picture,

that is to

6

On the universal

validity

of those

views

cf. Leon

Dorez,

"

La canzone delle

virtui

e

delle

scienze,"

1904,

where

the

passage

in

question

of Dante's Convito

(Io-27)

is

also

quoted.

In

a

widely

used

philosophical-theological

lexicon

composed

in

the

i4th century

(Petrus

Berchorius,

Repertorium

morale,

1489, 1498, etc.),

in

which

it is said

of

Prudentia,

that she

is

of

use

"in

praeteritum

recordatione,

in

praesentium

ordinatione

in

futurorum

meditatione,"

the

origin

of this

division is re-

ferred to

a

saying

of Seneca's in his "liber de moribus."

This

saying,

however,

is

not

to be found

in the

"liber

de

moribus,"

but in the treatise

generally appended

to

it,

"

de

iv

virtutibus

cardinalibus"

(fol.

IIb.

in the edition of

Joh.

Gymnicus,

Cologne

1529),

and

both

writings

are

not

by

Seneca,

but

belong

to

the

pseudo-epigraphical

literature

of the middle

ages.

The real source

seems to be an utterance of

Plato's

transmitted

to

posterity by

Diogenes

Laertius

(to

be

quoted

below, note

12).

7

Examples

of the three-headed Prudentia

occur

in the

niello,

here

reproduced

on

Fig.

I,

on

the

Siena

pavement

(Annales

archdologiques,

i856,

XVI,

p.

132),

and

in the

Battistero

at

Bergamo

(Venturi,

Storia

dell'Arte Ital.

IV,

fig. 5io).

There are other

examples

on the

title-page

of

Gregor

Reisch,

Margarita Philosophica,

Strassburg,

1504

(reproduced

by

Schlosser,

l.c.

p.

49),

in Cod.

87

of the

Innsbruck

University

Library,

and

in a

picture

by

Joh.

Luhn,

preserved

in the

Museum

fur

Hamburgische

Geschichte

at

Hamburg,

to

which Mr.

Rover,

Hamburg,

has called

my

attention.

Examples

with two heads

occur,

to

give

one or

two

instances,

on the

Campanile

of

Florence

(Venturi,

Storia

dell'Arte

Italiana, IV,

fig.

550),

in Raffaello's Stanza della

Segnatura,

and in

Cesare

Ripa's

Iconologia,

Roma,

1603,

p.

4I6.

The

text;

of

this

work

also,

which

is

not

without

interest,

follows

closely

the

mediaeval

tradition:

"

le

due

faccie

significano

che la

prudentia

e una

cognitione

vera e

certa,

la

quale

. .

. nasce

della considera-

zione

delle

cose

passate

e

delle future

insieme.

L'eccellenza

di

questa

virti

e

tanto

importante,

che

per

essa si rammen-

tano le cose

passate,

si ordinano le

presenti,

e si

prevedono

le

future."

s

Schlosser,

I.c.

Taf.

III.

9

Bibl.

Casanatense.

Cod.

1404,

fol

o0

and

34

(two approxi-

mately

identical

representations).

On

the

other

hand

we find

in

the

same

manuscript

(dating

from

about

1430)

a

large

allegorical

representation

of

"

Man

"

with

three heads

differentiated

according

to

age.

Here,

of

course,

they

sym-

bolize

in

fact old

age,

manhood

and

youth.

178







say

the

three human heads. We

have

still

to con-

sider the

meaning

of

the

three

heads of animals.

We

may

suppose

a

priori,

that

they

also

are

meant

to

symbolize

somehow

the

forms of

time,

past,

present

and

future;

for in

mediaeval

art

not

only

Prudentia but also

Time

personified

was

represented

with three

heads.10

We

find

the

same

feature

in the

representation

of

Saturn,

a

deity

of

time,

as

well

as

the

demon of a

planet

(Kronos-Chronos) (Fig. 3), though there is no

differentiation

of

age

in

the

only

example

with

which

we

are

acquainted.

But

here we

find

only

the

human

faces,

not

the heads

of

animals. To

explain

the latter we must

go

back

to

the

obscure

and

remote

sphere

of

the late

antique mystery

religions

again

resuscitated

during

the

Renaissance.

When

opening

the

"Hieroglyphica"

by

Pierio

Valeriano,

we

find

(s.v.

" Prudentia

"

)

the

following

passage:-

"

PRUDENTIA."

"Serpens

hic

prudentiam

indicare

videbitur

. . .

Nam

cum

prudentia

non

praesentia

tantum

examinet,

verum

et

lapsa

et futura meditetur

et

tanquam

e

speculo prospectet,

medicum

exscribere

videtur,

quem oportet, inquit Hippo-

crates, pensitare diligenter OS Sr7 ra

T

eOVTra,7r 7T

aeo't-o.eva

7rpo

r

ovTra,

Qua

sunt,

quae

fuerint,

quae

mox

futura trahantur.

Quod

quidem hieroglyphice

per

trici-

pitium

in

Apollinis

etiam

simulacro

factum

invenies,

cuius

pedibus ingentis

vastitatis

Serpens subjiciebatur.

Capita

ea,

Canis

unum,

Lupi

alterum,

tertium

Leonis,

de

quo

alibi

disseruimus,

et

prudentice

signum

esse

demonstrav-

imus."11

Indeed,

we discover another

passage

referring

to

this monstrous

being, completed by

an

illustration

(Fig.

4),

and

suggesting

the

literary

source of

its

conception12:

the

descrip-

tion

of the

statue

of

Sarapis,

as

given by

Macrobius

in

the

first

book of his

"Saturnalia"

(ch.

20,

13

ss.).

The

god

is said to

have been

represented

as

enthroned,

the

kalathos

on his

head, a sceptre in his left hand, but conducting

with his

right

hand

a three-headed

monster,

with

a

wolf's

head

growing

out

of

the

body

on

the left

side,

a

lion's

head

in

the

middle,

and

on

the

right

the

head

of

a

dog,

all three

en-

twined

by

a

snake.

This

monster,

however,

10

Molsdorf,

Fiihrer

durch

den

symbol.

und

typolog.

Bilder-

kreis der christl.

Kunst

d.

Mittelalters,

Leipzig,

I920,

p.

I34,

mentions

a

pen-drawing

of the

15th

century

on which a wheel

held

by

"

Mother

Nature

"

and

representing

the course of a

lifetime

is crowned

by

a

representation

of

Time

under the

figure

of

a

woman

with

wings

and three

faces. This draw-

ing

seems

to

be

identical with

a

drawing

published

by

Forrer

(Unedierte

Miniaturen,

Federzeichnungen

und Initia-

len des

Mittelalters,

II,

1907,

P1.

LX),

and

it is

a

striking

fact,

that

"

Time,"

in

spite

of

the

inscription

"

Tempus,"

is

personified

by

a

woman:

obviously

the

type

of the three-

headed

"

Prudentia

"

has been decisive for

the

representation

of " Time."

11

Pierio

Valeriano,

Hieroglyphica, 1556 (Frankfort

edition

of

1678,

p. 192).

12

Pierio Valeriano

l.c.,

p.

384.

Pierio

substantiates the

connexion

between

Sarapis (=

Sol

=

Apollo)

and

the three-

headed

"

signum

"

of

time

in

the

following

manner:

"

Com-

petit

vero Soli

temporis

consideratio. Quid

vero

sibi

velit

Serpens,

ut Deus

sit,

ut

temporis

autor,

alio

commentario

satis

explicatum

est;

alibique

ostendimus eiusmodi

tricipitium

prudentia

convenire."

represents

time,

whose

three

forms,

represented

by

the

three

animals'

heads,

appear

in

this

"

signum

"

strikingly

combined

in a

higher

unity,

represented

by

the snake. The

ravening

wolf

denotes

the

past,

which

greedily

devours

the

memory

of

all

past

things;

the

lion

the

present,

which

possesses

most fire and

force

(the

lion's

head

being

for

this

reason

bigger

than

the

other

two),

and

the

fawning dog

the

future,

which lulls mankind in agreeable but deceptive

hopes.

"

Eidem

Aegypto

adiacens

ciuitas,

quae

con-

ditorem

Alexandrum Macedonem

gloriatur,

Sarapin

atque

Isin

cultu

paene

adtonitae

uene-

rationis

obseruat.

Omnem

tamen

illam uene-

rationem

soli

se

sub

illius

nomine testatur

impendere,

uel dum

calathum

capiti

eius

infigunt

uel

dum

simulacro

signum

tricipitis

animantis

adiungunt,

quod

exprimit

medio

eodemque

maximo

capite

leonis

effigiem;

dextra

parte

caput

canis

exoritur

mansueta

specie

blandientis,

pars

uero

laeua

ceruicis

rapacis lupi capite

finitur,

easque

formas animalium

draco conectit uolu-

mine

suo

capite

redeunte

ad

dei

dexteram,

qua

conpescitur monstrum. Ergo leonis capite mon-

stratur

prcesens

tempus,

quia

condicio

eius

inter

prceteritum

futurumque

actu

prcesenti

ualida

feruensque

est,

sed

et

preteritum

tempus

lupi

capite

signatur,

quod

memoria

rerum

transac-

13

As

far as

printed

and

illustrated

books

are

concerned,

the

earliest mention

with

which

we

are

acquainted

seems

to

occur

in the

well

known

"

Hypnerotomachia

Poliphili,"

Venice,

1499,

fol.

y.i.r.

and

y.2.r.

Here

the

signum

of

Sarapis

is

represented

on

the medallion

of

a

standard,

carried

by

nymphs

in

front

of

an

"amore

trionfante

"

(perhaps

denoting

the rule

of

love over

time);

the

snake

appears

as

a

typical

"

dragon

of

time,"

biting

his

own

tail and

including

the

medallion

like a

frame

(see

fig.

5).

It

was

Poppelreuter,

Meister

des

Poliphilo,

Strassburg,

1904,

p.

6i,

who first

ascertained

the

connexion

between

this

woodcut

and the

Holbein

metal-cut which

we

discuss.

Further,

compare

the

detailed reprint and illustration of the text of Macrobius in

Vincenzo

Cartari,

"

Imagini

delli dei

degli

antichi

"

(Venice

edition

of

1674,

p.

41),

also

C. G.

Gyraldus,

"

Syntagma

sextum,"

in

the

Leyden

edition of

his

"Opera

omnia,"

1696,

col.

198)

and

Sandrart's

"

Iconologia

deorum,"

Niirn-

berg,

16x8,

p.

29. Particularly

interesting

is the

description

by

G. P.

Lomazzo

(Trattato

della

Pittura,

1584,

VII,

6.

=

vol.

III, p.

36

in the new edition

of

1899),

in

which

the

"

signum

triciput

"

of

Sarapis

is

treated

as a

representation

of Saturn

as Time:"

ma

gli

antichissimi

Egizi

in

altro modo

lo

(sc.

Saturno) rappresentarono

per

il

tempo,"

followed

by

the

description

in

Macrobius

with the addition

that

"

some

"

attempted

to

recognize

in

the

three heads

a

representation

of

the three

sons

of

Osiris,

namely

Anubis,

Hercules and

Makedo-Upuaut,

of whom

in fact the first

was

represented

with

the

head

of a

dog

and

the third

with

the head of a

wolf

(cf.

note

15).

On the

other

hand

the

mediaval

idea

of Prudentia

persists

and

penetrates

the

conception

of

the

late

antique

symbol

of

time,

as we

have

learned

from Titian's

painting

and from the

text of Pierio

Valeriano;

Cesare

Ripa,

for instance,, introduces the

"

signum triciput

"

as an attri-

bute

of

"

Consiglio

"

(see fig.

6), according

to

a

passage

of

Diogenes

Laertius,

mentioned

already

in

note

6:

"Consiglium

(av,u

3ovX\a)

itidem

tripartitum

est,

aliud

quippe

a

praeteri-

tis

temporibus,

aliud a

futuro,

aliud

a

presenti tempore

sumi-

tur.

Praeteritum

tempus exempla suppeditat

.

. .

Prmsens

autem rem

ipsam, quae

in

manibus

est,

considerare monet

.

.

Futurum

prospicere

suadet,

uti

ne

quid

fiat

temere,

habendum

bonae

opinionis

rationem

.

. ."

(De

vit.

dogm.,

et

Apoph-

tegmath.

clar.

philos.

III,

7i).

I79







Fig.

.

"II

Consiglio

"

(Cesare Ripa, Iconologia,

Rome,

1603). Fig.

7.

Holbein

(

I')

Allegory of

Ihe

TTthe F

s

of

Fig.

6.

"

II

Consiglio"

(Cesare

Ripa,

Iconologia,

Rome,

I6O3). Fig.

7.

Holbein

(?)

Allegory

of

the

three

Forms

of

Time,

from

J.

Eck De Primatu

Petri,

libri

tres,

Paris,

1521.

Fig.

8.

"

Signum triciput

"

of

Sarapis,

from

L.

Bergerus,

Lucernce

veterum

sepulchrales

iconicce,

I702, II,

pl.

7.

Fig.

9.

Mithraic

Chronos,

Villa

Albani,

Rome

(Cumont,

II,

No.

40).

tarum

rapitur

et

aufertur.

Item

canis

blandientis

effigies

futuri

tempori

designat

euentum,

de

quo

nobis

spes,

licet

incerta,

blanditur."

There is

no

doubt

that

the

motive of the

three

animal's

heads

in

Titian's

picture

was derived

from

this

thoroughly

apposite description

of

Macrobius,

which we can

prove

to have

been

well known in

the Renaissance13

(for

an

imme-

diate derivation

from

the

extant

plastic

figures

of

Sarapis

is

equally

improbable

on formal and

historical

grounds

alike).

The animals'

heads

can

therefore,

as we

might

have

supposed

a

priori

from

the

parallel

drawn

by

Titian with

the three

human faces

designated

by

inscrip-

tions,

be

safely interpreted

as the

symbols

of

the

Three Forms of

Time.

It

was

no

doubt

the

in-

genious

and

allegorical

character of

the text of

Macrobius,

that

made

him

peculiarly

attractive

to that humanistic age,14 especially as the con-

tent

of

this

passage

could be

connected without

much

difficulty

with

current

ideas inherited

from

the

middle

ages.

Thus

we can

easily

conceive

that

Titian

and

Pierio Valeriano could

combine

the

late-antique

symbol

of Time

with

the

mediaeval

representa-

tion

of

"

Prudentia

"

(whose

female

heads,

of

course,

had

to

be

transformed

to

male

ones);

and

by

this

combination

the humanists

have

14

On

the

importance

of

Egyptian

and

pseudo-Egyptian

allegory

for

the

humanists

of the

x5th

and x6th

century,

cf.

especially

K.

Giehlow,

Jahrb.

d.

Kunstsamml.

d.

Allerh.

Kaiserhauses,

1915,

XXXII, I

ff.,

and

the recent work

of

Volkmann,

Bilderschriften

der

Renaissance, I923.

We can

easily

conceive

of

"

Egyptian

"

and

mediaeval

allegoresis

coalescing, as we have seen in Titian's picture, both aspiring

to

an

illustration

of

abstract

ideas

by

visible

forms.

On

the

other

hand,

the true

aim

of

mediaval

allegory

is

almost

opposite

to

that

of

Renaissance

hieroglyphics.

For

the

medieval

author

wants

to

explain

what

is for

the most

part

a

rather

complicated

system

of

ideas

by

translating

it into

the

clear

and efficacious

language

of

pictures-the

humanist

wants

to

disguise

a

mostly

rather trivial

sentence

in a

"

rebus

"

as

puzzling

as

possible.

In fact

L.

B.

Alberti

praises

the

hieroglyphics

for

being

understood

by

every

nation,

but

by

'

the initiated

"

only.

accomplished

a

most

characteristic

synthesis

between

two

different

conceptions

of

time:

in

the mediaval

treatment of

Prudence the

three

parts

of time

signified

the

object

of

thoughts

of the

intellect,

personified

by

the human

form,

and

if

the

three

heads

of

this

human form

appeared

differentiated

according

to

age

(the

middle

head

being

sometimes

distinguished

by

a

crown,

corresponding

to the

supremacy

of the

present

over

past

and

future),

this

differentiation

was

rather a reflex

of

what

they

beheld,

than

a token of what

they

themselves

represented.

The

three-headed monster

of

Sarapis,

on the

contrary,

was

symbolical

of

time as

a

mythical

force;

and

our

picture, joining

the human

heads

with

the heads of

animals

(although

omitting

the

serpent,

and

representing

the

whole

in

a

purely

naturalistic

manner,

gives

back

to

time its antique demoniac quality, and never-

theless subordinates

it to the moral

conception

of

the

middle

ages.

Thereby

the

artist

realizes

an

entirely

new

idea

of

time,

concretizing

and

individualizing

the abstract

notions,

and at the

same

time

spiritualizing

the

concrete

and

in-

dividual

forms.

Neither

the three-headed

prodigy

represented

by

late

antique

sculpture,

nor

the

almost

metaphorical

"

tripartita

Prudentia

"

represented

in

mediaeval

art

pro-

duces

the

impression

of

a

phantastical

"vision."

There

we stand

before

a

monstrous,

but

not

particularly

visionary

phenomenon-here

we

stand

before

a

mere

allegory.

The real

"vision"

(and

this

is

valid

also

for

apocalyptical

and

mystical representations) always requires the

coincidence

of

natural

conditions

and

super-

natural

conceptions.

It

is

a

striking

fact that

German

art,

most

probably

at

the

instigation

of

the

Italian

Renaissance,

was

also

inspired

by

Macrobius.

For

in

an emblematical

metal-cut,

presumably

by

Hans

Holbein,"5

obviously

the

same

monster

i80







is

represented

(Fig.

7).

The

German

print

approaches

even

nearer

to

the

texts than

does

the

Venetian

painting.

Holbein

has

contented

himself

with

imitating

the

monster

described

by

Macrobius,

without

adding

the human

faces

and

without

omitting

the

serpent,

as

Titian had

done.

The

heads

are

made

to

grow

out

of

a

common

conical

body,

round

which,

completely

hiding

it,

the snake is

twined,

and

the

whole

image is grasped, like a gigantic bouquet, by a

divine

hand

thrust out

from

clouds.

This

repre-

sentation

also

shows

how the

idea

of

time

came

to

life in

a

new

sense under

the influence

of

a late

antique

writing

which,

it

is

true,

in

an

already

somewhat

inanimate

and

allegorical

form,

conjured

up

the shades

of

a dark

world

of

demons

in

a

curious

mixture

of

Greek,

Egyptian

and

Persian

elements.16

And

yet

this

pagan

idea of time

was

not

simply

taken

over,

either

in

Italy

or

in

Germany,

but

it

appears,

both

in

Titian's

picture

and in Holbein's

metal-

15

The

metal-cut

occurs

from

1521

onwards

in

several

books,

printed

at

Paris,

and

is

regarded

by

H.

Koegler

(Monatshefte

fiir

Kunstwissenschaft,

1916,

III,

x6),

as

an

unquestionably

original work of Holbein's. Whether this is correct, or

whether

it is

the

work

of

a mere

associate of

the artist

must

be left

to

the

judgment

of

authorities

better informed.

(Mr.

Campbell

Dodgson,

independently

of

Koegler,

expressed

the

opinion

that Holbein

himself

designed

the

metal-cut).

This

opinion

is

shared

by

H. A. Schmid

and P.

Kristeller,

who

believe

it

to

be

executed

by

I.

F.,

after

a

design

of

Holbein's.

v.

Poppelreuter,

at the

place quoted

above.

16

The

romance

of

Alexander

by

Pseudo-Callisthenes

places

by

the

side

of the cult

image

of

the

Serapeion

at

Alexandria

(alleged

to be the work

of

Bryaxis)

a

wov

7roXvufopfrov

the

nature

of

which

no one is

able

to

explain

(cf.

R.

Reitzenstein,

"

Das iranische

Erlisungsmysterium,"

1921, p.

I90;

Plutarch,

De Is.

et

Osir.,

cap. 78,

denotes

" the

serpent

and the

Cerbe-

rus

"

as

an attribute

of

Sarapis,

whom

he

identifies

with

Pluto),

and

numerous

sculptured

representations

are extant

which

correspond

exactly

to

the

description

by

Macrobius

(see

Reinach,

Rep.

de

l'Art

Statuaire,"

II.

I

p.

19,

20

and

II,

2

p.

89;

cf.

also Roschers

"

Ausfiihrliches

Lexikon

der

griechischen

und

romischen

Mythologie,"

sub

voce

Sarapis,

Hades,

Kerberos;

Paully-Wissowa,

"Real-Encyklopiidie des

klassischen

Altertums,"

s.v.

Sarapis;

Thieme-Becker's

"Kiinst-

lerlexikon,"

s.v.

Bryaxis;

Michaelis

in

"Journal

of

Hellenic

Studies,"

x885,

VI.

p.

287

ff.-very thorough);

Our

fig.

8

is taken

from

L.

Bergerus,

Lucerna

veterum

sepulchrales

iconic;e,

Berlin,

1702,

II,

pl.

7;

Dehn in

"Jahrbuch.

d.

Deutschen arch.

Instituts,"

1913,

XXVIII,

400.

The

only

question

is whether

it

can

be

proved

through

the

history

of

religion

that

there is

a real

kernel

of truth

in

the

interpre-

tation

of the

"

Cerberus

"

handed

down

by

Macrobius

in

the

sense

of an

allegory

of

time,

or whether

it is

nothing

but

an

arbitrary explanation

of

the

visible data

which,

as

is

some-

times

really

the

case,

may

be

considered

devoid of

importance

so far as

the actual

signification

of the

"

signum

"

is

con-

cerned.

But even

if no one

will

really

believe

that the lion

was

actually

meant

to

represent

the

present,

the

dog

the

future,

and

the wolf the

past

(the

wolf's

head

may

rather

be

derived

from

Egyptian

tradition:

the

god

of

the dead

Up-

uaut,

in Greek

Makedon-for

Sarapis

is

also

a

god

of

the

dead

and was

represented

with

a

snake's

body

and

wolf's

head (See Expedition Ernst Sieglin, Vol. I, pl. 25), yet it is

certainly

possible

that

the

sophistic

exegesis

of

Macrobius

is

based on

perfectly

genuine

tradition. For the latest

investi-

gations

(especially

R.

Reitzenstein,

l.c.),

have demonstrated

that

Sarapis,

who

had

originally

the form of

a

serpent,

was

identified

not

only

with

Zeus,

Hades

and

Askiepios,

but

also

with

the lion-headed

Helios and

especially

with the

Persian

god

of time

"

Aion,"

who was

confused

with

Helios

and

therefore also

represented

with

the head

of a

lion,

and

that

he

possessed

a

peculiarly

far-reaching significance

in

this

last mentioned

character. It is

therefore

not

cut,

fused

to

a

certain extent

with

the

Christian-

mediaeval

world of

ideas.

Both

representations

have in

common,

in

the

first

place,

the

omission

of the

actual

idol,

the

conscious

independent

treatment

of

the

symbol

of

time,

which

had

been

assigned

to

him

merely

as an

attribute;

and

we

have

already

seen how

Titian

sought

to

amalgamate

the

pagan

and

the

antique

with the

mediaeval

idea of

prudence.

The

three

animals'

heads of the pagan monster were combined

with

the

correspondingly

altered

human

heads

of

the

Christian

personification

of

Prudentia

(so

that

the

mediaeval-scholastic

elements

in

the

representation

and

the

humanistic

elements,

imitating

the

antique,

stand one over

the

other

as in

two

storeys,

plainly

separated

and

yet

con-

nected),

and the

inscription

makes

the

whole

appear

firmly

rooted

in

scholastic

thought.

But

Holbein

also,

who

keeps

much

more

literally

to

the

text

of

Macrobius,

seems

to have altered the

motive

to

a certain

extent

by

placing

the

whole

monstrous

formation

in the

hand

of

God

issuing

from

clouds,17

and

holding

it

in

sus-

pense

over

a

wide

landscape,

thus

deliberately

changing the significance of the right hand of

Sarapis,

which

according

to

Macrobius

grasped

the three-headed

monster.

By

this

modification

he also christianizes

the

subject

and transforms

it

to

a

kind of

"

vision,"

and

leaves

us

to

choose

between

interpreting

it as

an

allegory

of Time

or of Prudence

(but

as

we

have

seen,

from an

historical

point

of view the

difference

between

those

interpretations

can

almost be

neglected).

Either

the

emblem

means:

(a)

all which

takes

place

in

time

(past,

present

and

future),

how-

ever much

occasioned

and controlled

by

the

three

demons

of these forms

of

time,

nevertheless

really

"

lies

in the

hand of

God

";

or

(b)

Pru-

dence,

ruler

over

past, present

and

future,

is

based on the Divine

omnipotence.

at

all

impossible

that that

three-headed

monster,

which

was

at

least

not

an

ordinary

Cerberus,

was

intended

to

insist

particularly

on

the

character

of

Sarapis

as

a

god

of

time;

and

there

is

actually

a

very

remarkable

agreement

between

the

"

signum

triciput

"

of

Sarapis

and

the numerous extant

examples

of

the

Persian-Mithraic

Aion-

Chronos,

with

which

it

has

in common

not

merely

the lion's

head,

but

also

the

coils

of a

serpent,

while

the Persian

divin-

ity

is

beyond

all

doubt

a

god

of time

(numerous

illustrations

in

C.

Curxont,

Textes

et monuments

relatifs

au

culte

de

Mithra,

I896,

II,

whence

we

take

our

fig.

9).

Our Holbein

cut

especially

looks

so

like this

Mithraic

Chronos,

that

if

we

did

not

possess

the

passage

in

Macrobius,

we

might

think

of

bringing

the two

representations

in to immediate

connexion.

It is

very

probable,

however,

that this resemblance

is

acci-

dental,

the

artist,

in

endeavouring

to

follow

as

exactly

as

possible

the indications

of

the

text and

to

unite them with

the

motive

of

the

all-grasping

divine

hand,

having

been

naturally led to the solution of the problem, which he found.

17

The

fact must

not be

ignored,

that

the

grasping

hand

issuing

from

clouds

in emblematical

designs

is

not

always

to

be

interpreted

as God's

hand

(cf.

e.g.

Froben's

device).

But

in

our

case,

when the text

expressly

connects

the monster

with

the

hand

of

Sarapis,

and when

the

print

as

a whole is

not

treated

in a

purely

ornamental

fashion,

but

shows the

monster

poised

in

air

over

a

wide

landscape,

the

interpreta-

tion

of

the

hand

here

proposed

as

a

hand of the Christian

God substituted

for that

of a

pagan

god,

if not

absolutely

certain,

is

still

fairly probable.

i8i





a late antique religious symbol in works by holbein and titian

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