Luba Freedman and Gerlinde Huber-Rebenich, eds. Wege zum Mythos.

(Ikonographische Repertorien zur Rezeption de antiken Mythos in Europa, 3.) Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2001. 214 pp. illus, index. DM 104. ISBN: 3-7861-2419-1.

How did Pollaiuolo read the three Herculean representations of the Porta della Mandorla? Why did Andrea Doria's oar later become a trident in Bronzino's works? Did the Venetians of the Duecento deliberately imitate a Roman forum when restructuring the Piazza San Marco? How did numismatics advance the Renaissance knowledge of antiquity?

These are some of the questions tackled in the above-mentioned volume. Its editors claim that the articles "illuminate from diverse perspectives the ways in which European literature and art have approached ancient mythology since the beginning of the modern age." Yet, they confess that "the table of contents might give the impression that textual scholarship is underrepresented here" (9), which is correct. Its contributions, they inform us, "arose from a variety of occasions" (11), and this is evident.

One of the articles that stands out clearly is Hermann Walter's analysis of two paintings by Luca Giordano in the Galleria Querini Stampalia, in Venice, which have been misidentified. His analysis of Cephalus and Procris is methodologically impeccable. He demonstrates how the artist, although aware of the various examples of the visual tradition, has transformed his subject into a highly original work conveying the complex feelings involved in the drama and how he invites the beholder to fill the deliberate lacunae. The second picture, representing Diana killing Chione, is examined more succinctly; Walter questions the unusual posture of Diana: couldn't it simply be an attempt to combine the goddess of the Moon with the elegant form of a crescent, the horns of which are visible underneath her thighs?

Luba Freedman examines in an equally skilful manner Titian's handling of the story of Perseus and Andromeda, which she compares with the story of Ruggiero and Angelica in Orlando Furioso. Yet, the corresponding passage, which is most eloquent, is not cited and the illustrations alone only give a partial picture. Furthermore, here, as elsewhere in the volume, it would have been constructive to consider the possible contribution of the different mythographical manuals available to the artists. For instance, Titian could simply have learned about Perseus' "scimitarra," not through "help from the literati who read latin," as Freedman suggests (26) since this detail is missing from L. Dolce's Italian Ovid, but through G. Betussi's translation of Boccacio's Genealogia (1547, 1:210). John Cunnally pertinently pays tribute to the scholar who familiarized us with this corpus of disparate texts, Jean Seznec, in his article on W. Lazius' collection of ancient coins.

Amy Golahny studies Rembrandt's Europa and the Bull and proposes that "Rembrandt's goal was to match Ovid's humorous and expressive tone as it was evident from Florianus' translation" (41), while Liana di Girolami Cheney deals with a closer, to us, example of survival of antiquity: Burne-Jones' representation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. The author goes carefully through the painter's life in her effort to identify his aesthetic models. Even so, her choosing the sarcophagus of Mars and Rhea Silvia as a prototype is puzzling, since there was quite a number of sarcophagi available at the time, illustrating one of the most popular myths in England, that of Endymion (L.G.C. mentions it only fleetingly). Selene approaching the sleeping Greek hero, with the characteristic velificatio over her head, seems to have served as a more likely model for Cupid.

Sculpture is the subject of three contributions. Sarah Blake McHam examines the possible influence of Pliny on the extensive decoration of the Piazza San Marco in Venice; it is a pity that so much valuable information is wasted in the footnotes. Edward J. Olszewski examines in his learned essay Pollaiuolo's Hercules and Antaeus, claiming, not always convincingly, that "it lends itself to interpretation as the theological virtue of hope" (72). Dante's cherished Lucan does not get the treatment one would expect in this context, although verses 648-49 of book 4 of the Pharsalia could eventually explain the "exaggerated break in the back" (77) of Alcides. Finally, Friedrich Polleross examines Andrea Doria's representations as Neptune. To conclude, Gerlinde Huber-Rebenich contributes with a masterful technical essay on the "genealogies" of Ovidian text-illustrations and Hans-Jurgen Horn studies a review of a German adaptation of Ovid's Metamorphoses that has influenced Goethe's Poetry and Truth.

On the whole, this is a helpful book for students interested in iconography. However, it brings up one problem which often surfaces in iconographical studies: visual documents are favored to the detriment of textual records. Still, the series to which it belongs constitutes a laudable effort that one can only hope will continue to be a meeting place for scholars from all over the world.

NATALIA AGAPIOU

Independent scholar