DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31769#0073
Triumph of Love, often shown as a ceremonial horse-
drawn carriage accompanied by festively-dressed figures.
In an example from the mid-fifteenth century, a figure of
Amor stands in the centre, armed with a flaming bow
and arrow and supported by three smaller cherubs who
are eagerly releasing their weapons of love 57 (see p. 74).
het, more interesting in fact than the activities of Amor
and his cohorts is the scene in the lower half of the work
where two men are being mistreated by two women:
Aristotle by Phyllis and Samson by Delilah. Phyllis was
the beautiful mistress of Alexander the Great, and Aris-
totle was Alexander’s teacher for a time. After the
philosopher had warned the ruler against the detrimen-
tal influence of beautiful women on able men, the
enraged — and now vengeful — Phyllis kindled such
burning desire in the old man that, in order to prove his
love, he was prepared to serve her as a beast of burden.
And so the woman proved her power over the great
philosopher. Power is also the central issue in the story
of Delilah, who cut off the mighty Samson’s hair and, so
it was said, by this act completely robbing him of all his
strength.5 8 Thus the lower half of the commemora-
tive salver demonstrates the triumph of women over
the intellectual (Aristotle) and the physical (Samson)
strength of man. On the occasion of a birth, a female-
“dominated” event, it was customary to order a desco da
parto which depicted men temporarily subjugated by
women. A comparable visual image — although not
(yet) relating to a birth — is conveyed in the figure of the
centaur in Botticelli’s picture, for despite his physical
superiority and his legendary wildness, he has been
robbed of his power by the female personification of
virtue and has thus been tamed. The unstable position of
his head may also be interpreted in this same sense. In
Donatello
Judith and Holofernes, c. 1456
Right: Head of the centaur
72
drawn carriage accompanied by festively-dressed figures.
In an example from the mid-fifteenth century, a figure of
Amor stands in the centre, armed with a flaming bow
and arrow and supported by three smaller cherubs who
are eagerly releasing their weapons of love 57 (see p. 74).
het, more interesting in fact than the activities of Amor
and his cohorts is the scene in the lower half of the work
where two men are being mistreated by two women:
Aristotle by Phyllis and Samson by Delilah. Phyllis was
the beautiful mistress of Alexander the Great, and Aris-
totle was Alexander’s teacher for a time. After the
philosopher had warned the ruler against the detrimen-
tal influence of beautiful women on able men, the
enraged — and now vengeful — Phyllis kindled such
burning desire in the old man that, in order to prove his
love, he was prepared to serve her as a beast of burden.
And so the woman proved her power over the great
philosopher. Power is also the central issue in the story
of Delilah, who cut off the mighty Samson’s hair and, so
it was said, by this act completely robbing him of all his
strength.5 8 Thus the lower half of the commemora-
tive salver demonstrates the triumph of women over
the intellectual (Aristotle) and the physical (Samson)
strength of man. On the occasion of a birth, a female-
“dominated” event, it was customary to order a desco da
parto which depicted men temporarily subjugated by
women. A comparable visual image — although not
(yet) relating to a birth — is conveyed in the figure of the
centaur in Botticelli’s picture, for despite his physical
superiority and his legendary wildness, he has been
robbed of his power by the female personification of
virtue and has thus been tamed. The unstable position of
his head may also be interpreted in this same sense. In
Donatello
Judith and Holofernes, c. 1456
Right: Head of the centaur
72