[For details click on images]
Fig. 9 Mercury teaches Amor how to read and write, approx. 1760
Fig. 11 Amor's coronation, 1860, Marriage fan (lithography)
Fig.13 A young woman releases a white dove, Marriage fan (lithography), 1860
Eros & Amor: Love iconography on fans (3)
Amor is
present in many mythological scenes, sometimes simply filling the side
space or reserves of fans. Besides, he appears in different other contexts:
Amor's wings are cut: The cutting of his wings serves
as punishment (for having sent arrows aimlessly around). Sometimes Venus,
his mother, performs the punishment, sometimes another woman, who wishes
to show her virtues in doing so (not even Amor can seduce her to human
love – as opposed to spiritual love). Sometimes, a man tries to prevent
her from cutting the wings, a clear sign that she should not oppose
love. David's website shows another example, "Cephisa
cuts Amor's wings".
Amor's lessons: To prevent Amor from causing trouble
with his arrows, he is taught how to read and write. In most of the
cases, the lesson is given by Mercury.
The Amoretti-Vendor: The motive can be seen for the
first time in a Pompeian fresco: A round wooden cage open on top houses
several sleeping amoretti. An old woman crudely takes one of them at
the wings and hands it over to a young beautiful woman. This scene can
be found relatively often on fans. Goethe was also inspired by it and
wrote his poem "Who buys love gods?",
but gives it a clear erotic connotation. This poem inspired a German
fresco painter of the 19th century, Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1805-1874),
who shows Goethe's meaning in plain drawing: Exactly as on the Pompeian
fresco, an old woman sells love gods. However, the body on which the
wings are fixed is neither Amor nor a bird, but a phallus.
Amor distributes his favour: The love god, in this
scene depicted as young man, drives in triumph among happy couples that
acclaim him and follow his carriage. Or he sits on a throne, and distributes
burning hearts or hearts pierced by his arrows. Girls and young women
queue up to receive one. The erotic connotation of the arrow was mentioned
above.
Coronation of Amor: Amor is crowned with a flower wrath,
sign that love is "king" and conquers everything. A love and
betrothal motif.
Amor carves his bow or sharpens his arrows: Preparatory
activities before an "attack" of love. Sometimes Hephaistos/Vulcan
helps him sharpening the arrow tops.
Amor blowing soap bubbles: This is not a love symbol,
but a "memento mori": life (Amor = human love as allegory
of life) is as ephemeral as soap bubbles.
4.
About turtledoves and other birds
Birds carry different symbolic meanings throughout the 17th to the mid-19th
century. Turtledoves accompany Venus/Aphrodite and
are part of 18th-century love altars or friendship plinths, often together
with burning hearts or love and friendship torches.
A different though related symbolism shows a girl releasing a white
dove that heads towards a second dove. The white dove impersonates virginity
that is sacrificed in marriage. Similar to this is the (open) cage.
In times when singing birds were kept as pets, a bird cage
in a painting seems harmless enough. However, in painting of the 17th
/18th century, it symbolizes the different degrees of virginity: from
virgo intacta (a closed cage with a bird in it) to defloration (an open
cage without bird). In parallel, the more common interpretation of "being
imprisoned by love" stems probably from the 19th century.
Another similar symbolism is the bird on a leash. Again,
tame birds were held by children in this way, as can be seen on many
famous paintings. However, painted in a romantic scene, where "he"
holds the leash, it has a clear erotic significance. When "she"
holds the leash, it can simply be interpreted as "holding him on
a leash". However, given the sexual or phallic connotation that
birds have in different languages, it can also allude to erotic "manipulation".
For the synonym of birds and love gods, see Goethe's poem above.
Finally, there is also the "bird catcher".
In Mozart's "Enchanted flute", he is named Papageno and very
overtly aims at catching young women. Sometimes, Amor is also depicted
as bird catcher, inspecting his traps, to which he also refers as "love
traps".
Fig. 10 The Amorini-Vendor, approx. 1830; (Thanks to Anna Checcholi for the permission to use her fan images).
Fig.12 Amor's triumph, lithographic fan, approx. 1840
Fig. 14 The young woman holds a bird on a leash (Thanks to Anna Checcholi, for the permission to use her fan images); Brisé fan around 1830
