An Exemplary Humanist Hybrid

Vasari's "Fraude" with Reference to Bronzino's "Sphinx

Bibliographic Data

ID10424955
AuthorsJohn F Moffitt (New Mexico State University, corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume49
Issue2
Pages303-333
Publication date1996-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRenaissance Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-4338 • E-ISSN: 1935-0236
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/2863160
OpenAlexW2328084026
LanguageEN
References cited31

In an article recently published in this journal, I argued that a certain, often discussed, hybrid encountered in Bronzino's wellknown painting depicting The Exposure of Luxury (ca. 1545, National Gallery, London; also known as Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time) was actually intended to represent a “sphinx” [fig. 1]. Whatever its proper designation, this is the bizarre figure that may be espied lurking in darkness (as much metaphorical as physical), just as she/it was placed in the middle ground of the far right side of Bronzino's carefully contrived composition [fig. 2]. This darkly crouching creature was situated by the ingenious painter behind the brightly illuminated figure of a nude and joyful putto tossing roses, so making it literally hidden (occulta)

Art · Art history · Humanism · Painting · Performance art · Situated · Sphinx · Visual arts · Aesthetic Perception and Analysis · Art History and Market Analysis · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Philosophy · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

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