Pagan Serpents in Paradise: The Emergence of Anguipedes in Italian Renaissance Art by Clanci Jo Conover sponsored by Dr. Michelle Erhardt (Department of Fine Arts and Art History)
Author Biography
Clanci Jo Conover is a graduating art history major, with minors in communication studies and Medieval Renaissance studies. The Italian Renaissance is her period of academic focus, and she is considering pursuing my PhD so that she can teach on this subject at the college level. She has been the recipient of the Helen Alexick Fecher Fine Arts Endowed Scholarship, Alumni Society Betty Lockhart Anglin Endowed Art Scholarship, and the Minnie Lee Hayes & William P. Hayes, Jr. Fine & Visual Arts Endowed Scholarship. She attained her bachelor’s degree in three years and will be graduating with distinction from the Honors program, as well as cum laude.
Abstract The purpose of this paper was to explore the figure of the anguipede (a snake-human hybrid) in Italian Renaissance art. Little research has been done on this figure despite the fact that it is included in infamous artistic works, including Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel and Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise on the Florence Baptistery. This paper focuses on the Classical origins of the anguipede, its exclusion from art in the Medieval period, and its resurfacing in Christian art in Florence during the early years of the Renaissance. The anguipede was subsequently adopted by artists across Italy, exemplifying the cultural acceptance of non-Christian subjects in a highly Christian world that characterizes the Renaissance. This essay hopes to prove that anguipedes emerged in Christian images of the Italian Renaissance as a result of Florentine humanists’ progressive ideals and fascination with antiquity in combination with the circulation of newly translated Classical texts. Evidence in support of this thesis is derived from primary documents, analyses of artworks, and an array of scholarly publications. This paper found that the ancient mythical figure of the anguipede became an acceptable means of portraying the serpent in the Garden of Eden because of the influence of Byzantine scholar Manuel Chrysoloras, and the open-mindedness of Florentine humanists. These findings help to broaden our understanding of how deeply Classicism influenced the Italian Renaissance.
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