DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31769#0077
The sight of Minerva with her halberd and her sym-
bolic embellishments, standing as the guardian of virtue
above the door of the bridal chamber, also explains the
unusual direction that La Primavera (placed to its right)
should be read in. The picture of spring has to be read
from nght to left, and not from left to right as might
otherwise be expected. When the painting is “read” in
this manner, the followmg sequence emerges: Zephyrus,
alias Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco as the groom, hunts and
overpowers the virginal nymph who becomes his bride
by being abducted and losmg her mnocence. Thus, as
Ovid’s text suggests, the groom abducts his bride Semi-
ramide Appiani alias Chloris alias Flora into the realm
of chaste Venus, who stands with a gesture of welcome
more or less in the centre of the picture. Semiramide is
the mistress of this realm of flower-laden fertility; here
she and her spouse will bring forth their desired off-
spring. Her chaste fertility is underlined by the presence
of the Three Graces. The temporary closure of this se-
quence is represented by Mercury, alias Lorenzo the
Magnificent, who disperses the winter winds and thus
creates a climate favorable to marriage and fertility. He
turns away from the scene portrayed in the first picture
and leads the way into the contrapuntal companion
piece, namely the taming of the centaur by Minerva, an
image of feminine dommation which focuses on the
motif of the domestication of unbndled masculme de-
sire by a virtuous woman.
In view of the circumstances surrounding the paint-
ing of La Primavera and its “counter-image,” we have
drawn the conclusion that the original intention was
that these two paintings should convince the newly-
married couple of their own weddmg. It is precisely this
dldactic intention-for the purposes of persuasion- Minerva entwined in olive shoots
76
bolic embellishments, standing as the guardian of virtue
above the door of the bridal chamber, also explains the
unusual direction that La Primavera (placed to its right)
should be read in. The picture of spring has to be read
from nght to left, and not from left to right as might
otherwise be expected. When the painting is “read” in
this manner, the followmg sequence emerges: Zephyrus,
alias Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco as the groom, hunts and
overpowers the virginal nymph who becomes his bride
by being abducted and losmg her mnocence. Thus, as
Ovid’s text suggests, the groom abducts his bride Semi-
ramide Appiani alias Chloris alias Flora into the realm
of chaste Venus, who stands with a gesture of welcome
more or less in the centre of the picture. Semiramide is
the mistress of this realm of flower-laden fertility; here
she and her spouse will bring forth their desired off-
spring. Her chaste fertility is underlined by the presence
of the Three Graces. The temporary closure of this se-
quence is represented by Mercury, alias Lorenzo the
Magnificent, who disperses the winter winds and thus
creates a climate favorable to marriage and fertility. He
turns away from the scene portrayed in the first picture
and leads the way into the contrapuntal companion
piece, namely the taming of the centaur by Minerva, an
image of feminine dommation which focuses on the
motif of the domestication of unbndled masculme de-
sire by a virtuous woman.
In view of the circumstances surrounding the paint-
ing of La Primavera and its “counter-image,” we have
drawn the conclusion that the original intention was
that these two paintings should convince the newly-
married couple of their own weddmg. It is precisely this
dldactic intention-for the purposes of persuasion- Minerva entwined in olive shoots
76