Author: Julie Thompson
Faculty Mentor: Kelly Donahue-Wallace, Associate Professor, Department of Art Education and Art History, College of Visual Arts and Design
Department and College Affiliation: Department of Art Education and Art History, College of Visual Arts and Design
Bio: Julie Thompson graduated from the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas (UNT) in December 2010, with a bachelor’s degree in Art History and a minor in French. From 2006-2008 she studied Art History and French literature at the American University of Paris. In April of 2011, she presented her research at University Scholars Day at UNT and at the 6th Annual Art History Symposium at the University of Texas at Arlington. She also received the 2010-2011 Outstanding Undergraduate Art History Student award at UNT’s Honors Day. She plans to pursue post-baccalaureate studies in either the history of medieval art or the history of printed images.
Abstract: Sinful behavior was ubiquitous despite the religious fervor of the Middle Ages and the Inquisition in eighteenth century Spain. To simplify church doctrine the medieval clergy employed the bestiary, a manuscript that categorizes animals and fantastic creatures by traits that symbolize moral behavior. This analysis argues that the iconography and allegories found within medieval bestiaries influenced prints depicting human, animal, and hybrid figures within Francisco de Goya’s (1746-1838) series Los Caprichos. However, in contrast to the medieval bestiary which employs animal symbolism for morally didactic purposes, Goya reworks the composition of bestial allegories in order to enlighten the viewer on the immorality that is innate, universal, and destructive to humanity. Accordingly, a semiotic analysis of Francisco de Goya’s prints Todos Caeran and Devota Profesion examines how Goya modifies the medieval iconography of the siren, the owl, and the ass to embody immoral aspects of contemporary Spanish society.
Table of Contents
- — Page: 2. Introduction
- — Page: 3. History Purpose and Audience of Medieval Bestiaries
- — Page: 4. Religious and Social Ideologies of 18th Century Europe and the Spanish Enlightenment
- — Page: 5. Bestial Allegory in Los Caprichos
- — Page: 6. Bibliography
- — Page: 7. Figure 1. Sirens Dancing and Playing Music
- — Page: 8. Figure 2. Sirens and Men in Ship on the Sea Charmed by the Song of the Sirens
- — Page: 9. Figure 3. Hyrcus
- — Page: 10. Figure 4. Noctua
- — Page: 11. Figure 5. Owl Being Attacked by Other Birds
- — Page: 12. Figure 6. Ass with Drover Carries Sack to Mill
- — Page: 13. Figure 7. Ignobleness
- — Page: 14. Figure 8. Superstition
- — Page: 15. Figure 9. Lust
- — Page: 16. Figure 10. Todos Caeran
- — Page: 17. Figure 11. Devota Profesion