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Jocus is a virtually forgotten and unrecognised figure in Renaissance iconography today; yet this personification has a substantial history in both art and literature. This study recovers the iconographic tradition of Jocus, identifying its classical literary origins, and tracing its survival, development and transformation in early-Christian, medieval, and Renaissance literature. Thereafter, it analyses representations of Jocus within art, focussing on medieval manuscript illustrations and a selection of Renaissance paintings. The most prestigious literary source is a couplet in Horace's <u>Ode to Augustus</u> describing Jocus comprising a triad with Venus and Cupid. Thus, Jocus was associated with carnal love, which this study has found to be based on commonplace euphemistic language in which <i>iocus</i> implied coitus. Furthermore, it identifies a related iconographic theme, "<i>Le giuochi di putti</i>" which also conveyed covert sexual messages based on contemporary euphemistic language. It discusses in detail a selection of paintings in which Jocus is most readily identifiable; significantly, all produced in mid-sixteenth-century Tuscany in the circle of the Florentine painter Giorgio Va sari. Each painting represents the Horatian triad with Jocus portrayed as a Cupid-like <i>putto</i> carrying attributes associated with childhood and play. Moreover, since moralising medieval sources associate Jocus with human folly, folly is also signified in these paintings. By further exploring the association between Jocus and folly, this study establishes a link between Italian and northern iconographic themes, and reveals a network of northern artists and humanists in whose work play, folly and love were interconnected. It reveals that the most enduring visual image of Jocus was a drawing by the northern humanist, Conrad Celtes, which was subsequently reproduced for over two centuries in emblem books and <i>iconolgiae</i>. Whilst the Horatian allusion consistantly justifies the inclusion of Jocus in literature, art and illustration, this study nevertheless argues that punning references and sexual innuendo subvert the high-mindedness of the prestigious classical roots of the motif. Identifying the evidence of such subversion is an important outcome of this research.

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The main topic of discussion in this thesis is the iconography of two etchings and five paintings of the Holy Family in a domestic or domestic/workshop setting. All of these works were, at one time, attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn. Although doubt now has been expressed by experts as to the authenticity of at least two of the paintings, namely, the Holy Family at Night (c. 1638/40, Amsterdam) and the Holy Family with St. Anne (1640, Paris), these disputed works are included because of a similarity to the way in which Rembrandt depicted the Holy Family in a non-Biblical context. If these are not works by Rembrandt’s own hand, they are certainly variants of his ideas, painted by artists in his circle. The remaining paintings consist of the Holy Family (1634, Munich), the Holy Family with Angels (1645, St. Petersburg), and the Holy Family with the Curtain (1646, Kassel). The etchings described are the 1632 Holy Family and the 1654 Virgin with the Cat and the Snake. Prior to a consideration of the aforementioned works of art, both individually and as a group, and in order to ascertain whether or not Rembrandt was influenced by earlier artists, a brief overview of depictions of the Holy Family in imaginary settings is provided, covering a period from the time of the Renaissance to the beginning of the seventeenth century. Mention also is made of the influence of restrictions on religious art that followed in the wake of the Reformation, particularly with respect to the art of the north Netherlands. Lastly, a look at a few depictions of the Holy Family by Rembrandt’s students and followers gives some indication of the extent to which they emulated his work. A comparison of the treatment of the same subject by Peter Paul Rubens and Jacob Jordaens, both of whom worked in the Catholic environment of the south Netherlands helps to demonstrate Rembrandt’s ability to meet the requirements of a largely Protestant society through the manner in which he chose to present the Holy Family. / Thesis (Master, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2008-05-27 17:26:55.126

The early-twelfth century sculptures now located within the nave of the Benedictine abbey church of Sainte-Marie at Souillac, France, formerly considered to be the fragmentary remains of a Romanesque portal program, are here read iconographically to form a cohesive, fully integrated and meaningful whole. A careful observation of the sculptures, in conjunction with near-contemporaneous artistic and textual comparators, permits a decoding of their symbolism and reveals the existence of highly sophisticated commentary, from the perspective of coenobitic monasticism, on a number of the more contentious political, ecclesiological and theological issues of the day. The program is read to be informed by and to reflect the clash of ideals within the Western Church surrounding aspects of papal reform from the latter half of the eleventh century.

The early-twelfth century sculptures now located within the nave of the Benedictine abbey church of Sainte-Marie at Souillac, France, formerly considered to be the fragmentary remains of a Romanesque portal program, are here read iconographically to form a cohesive, fully integrated and meaningful whole. A careful observation of the sculptures, in conjunction with near-contemporaneous artistic and textual comparators, permits a decoding of their symbolism and reveals the existence of highly sophisticated commentary, from the perspective of coenobitic monasticism, on a number of the more contentious political, ecclesiological and theological issues of the day. The program is read to be informed by and to reflect the clash of ideals within the Western Church surrounding aspects of papal reform from the latter half of the eleventh century.