The capricious roman goddess Fortune is known for her strong power to influence or even decide the destiny of humans. In ancient Rome she was considered to be a good goddess, who brought the gifts of destiny and who also was seen as a possible ally. During the Middle Ages this position changed. Fortune was given two sides, a good and friendly one and a cruel impenetrable side. She was seen as one of God´s ministers and became an expression of divine providence. My purpose with this essay is to analyse three artworks of Fortune by Giovanni Bellini, Albrecht Dürer and Master MZ, but also some texts by the renaissance humanist Niccolò Machiavelli. When examining this representation I will try to determine the iconography of Fortune and see how or if the interpretations of her differs. The study has shown that the different representations of Fortune differ from one another of the artworks. However, there is one major resemblance that presents itself in each and every one of the artworks as well as in Machiavelli’s texts, the fact that Fortune is considered to be capricious. This attribute is frequent. In the works of art Fortune is depicted along with some kind of circular object like a ball or a sphere, a clear indication of instability. In Machiavelli’s texts Fortune is often, metaphorically or directly expressed, as capricious and unpredictable. According to Machiavelli, humans therefore have to be prepared, hold capability or virtù, to be able to resist her rapid changes. Like the humanist Machiavelli was it is likely that he represents the ancient view of Fortuna, although some medieval element cannot be omitted. Furthermore, in all of the selected works of art together, one can see elements of both an antique view of Fortuna as well as a medieval. Although the Renaissance was strongly influenced by ancient ideas and ways of life, it becomes clear that also some medieval features survived into the mindset of the Renaissance.

Dans les années 1500, la villa qui se présentait comme une alternative à la ville permettait aux hommes de reprendre contact avec la nature. Cette dernière, qui possédait selon les théoriciens, hommes de lettres, architectes et médecins de l'époque des vertus sacrées et curatives contribuait au bonheur de l'être humain. Alors que les villas se multipliaient dans les campagnes vénitiennes l'on vit apparaître dans les années 1500, une tendance à incorporer la villégiature dans les tableaux de paysage. Les peintres comme Giovanni Bellini avaient recours à la nature pour créer la charge sacrée de leurs oeuvres et instaurer un sentiment de bien-être chez le spectateur. Le paysage dans lequel gravitaient les figures saintes contenait alors de nombreux symboles renvoyant à l'image de la Vierge Marie et du Christ. Les Vierges à l'enfant connurent ainsi une vague de popularité en Italie et en Flandres où le paysage symbolique avait pour effet de stimuler la dévotion des fidèles. / During the 1500's,the villa was as a safe alternative to the city, offering to men the possibility to establish a relationship with nature. The villa was for writers, architects, and doctors a safe haven equipped with curative as well as sacred virtues that contributed to the happiness of mankind. While villas where multiplying in the Venetians countryside, they also began to be integrated in landscape paintings. Giovanni Bellini used nature to create the religious character of his works and to give a sense of well-being to his public. The bucolique landscape in which the religious figures gravited were presented with many symbols of the Virgin Mary and Child. The images of the Madonna, widely collected in Flanders and in Italy, stimulated the devotion of worshippers. / « Pour respecter les droits d'auteur, la version électronique de ce mémoire a été dépouillée de ses documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal ».

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Tout visage est structuré selon un ordre symétrique. La thèse explore les conséquences de cette spécificité formelle du visage sur la construction du portrait dans le contexte spécifique de la Renaissance. Elle débute par une remise en cause de l’approche neuropsychologique qui fait de la dissymétrie et de la partition du visage dans le portrait la simple expression d’un donné physionomique. À travers une réflexion autour de la symétrie et de la dissymétrie dans l’ordre de la représentation, notre recherche rend compte de l’intérêt de ces catégories esthétiques pour la compréhension des enjeux formels et philosophiques propres à la construction du portrait. Elle révèle également la richesse et la complexité des significations allouées à la symétrie et à la dissymétrie dans le cosmos culturel de la Renaissance, celles-ci allant parfois à contre-courant de nos représentations contemporaines. Une dernière partie de cette recherche est consacrée au symbolisme théologique séculaire distinguant entre le côté droit et le côté gauche du visage, un côté tourné vers le céleste, l’autre vers le terrestre, et à son influence sur l’art du portrait. La démonstration est rythmée par diverses études de cas, parmi lesquelles des analyses approfondies de portrait peints par Jan Van Eyck, Giovanni Bellini, Raphaël et Albrecht Dürer. / Every face is structured in a symmetrical order. This research paper explores the consequences of this formal specificity on the construction of the portrait in the particular context of the European Renaissance. It starts with a critique of the neuropsychological approach that makes the asymmetry and the distinction between the two sides of the face in the portrait the mere expression of a particular physiognomy. Through a reflection on the aesthetic categories of symmetry and asymmetry in the order of representation, the research demonstrates the interest of these concepts for the understanding of the formal and philosophical issues specific to the construction of portraits. It also reveals the richness and complexity of meanings assigned to symmetry and asymmetry in the cultural cosmos of the Renaissance, these ones sometimes going against the grain of contemporary representations. The final section is devoted to the secular theological symbolism distinguishing between the right side and the left side of the face, one side turned to the heavenly, the other to the earthly, and the resulting influence on the art of portraiture. The demonstration is punctuated by various case studies, including an in-depth analysis of portraits painted by Jan Van Eyck, Giovanni Bellini, Raphael and Albrecht Dürer.

(in English) The key theme of my thesis are venetian influences on the Boccaccio Boccaccino's work, who was one of the most important exponents of the Cremonese school of painters. Initially he worked in Genoa, Cremona and Milan and he was influenced by the painters as Leonardo, Bramantino and Boltraffio. In the years 1497-1500 Boccaccino is documented in Ferrara. In this period he executed so-called tondo Gronau, The Christ on the way to Calvary, The Virgin and Child, now in Boston, The Virgin and Child, now in Padua, The Adoration of the Shepherds, now in Naples and Dead Christ supported by an Angel. This works show the influence of Bramantino, umbrian school but also early influence of venetian art. In 1500 or 1501 he painted the altarpiece with Virgin and Child with Sts Peter, Michael, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist for the church of S. Giuliano in Venice. Models of this composition are the S. Cassiano altarpiece of Antonello da Messina and Virgin and Child with Saints which Giovanni Bellini executed for the church of S. Giobbe. Boccaccino's image in S.Giuliano is also inspired by Ercole de'Roberti and Lorenzo Costa. His colours show the influence of Giorgione. In 1506 is Boccaccino documented in Venice but also in Cremona. In the years 1500-1506 he stayed probably in Venice, but he...