The breasts on many lines, quoted in
the Novazio's letter, are ancient symbols of fertility and a specific
trait of Diana or Artemis of Ephesus, from the name of the most famous temple
dedicated to this goddess, that Herodotus included among the Seven Wonders of the
World. Up on the left the old roman copy of the Farnese
collection, now in the National Archeological Museum of Naples; on the
right "Madre Natura" of Villa d'Este in Tivoli, realized by Giglio della
Vellita. It's interesting to observe that at least other two iconographies
of Diana of Ephesus pertain to the same period of Madre di tutti:
down on the left the fresco by Giovanni Maria Falconetto in the Palazzo d'Arco
of Mantua; on the right the portrait by Lorenzo Lotto to the antiques
dealer Andrea Odoni, now in the Hampton Court, Royal Collections
UK.
|