Iconography & Symbols

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Coins and gems have been important for the transmission of themes between Northern and Mediterranean civilitation.

Some symbols like the triskel, two legs quadrupedal animals, and animals rising from shells are found in

various area of Europe, minted on coins or carved on stones. The picture of three human legs joint to

thighs was anciently adopted in Athens and in Sicily: The picture refers to the Celtic motif of triskel representing

the three elements (water, earth, fire). This let us think of a move northern ichnography to Mediterranean area.

We can see an opposite process in the capitoline wolf suckling the twins: the theme lasts a long time in the

romanized northern countries, and the Celtic coins of England and Rhenish regions have frequently riutilized.

The two legs quadrupedal animal is a creature born because of the progressive removal of front legs,

 

 

Lupa che allatta i Gemelli		Quadrupede a due zampe

 

though it keeps the former horizontal position. The "monster" was born in anglo-saxon countries:

we find it on Celtic coins and in Norman-English Hells. In Middle Ages the biped invaded the mainland:

it spread over Italy and Spain in the codes, on the stalls, on painted ceilings, on tapestries.

The Gothic culture brushed up this figure getting it straight from ancient northern repertories.

Figures of double, triple, multiple headed monsters are very ancient. As Picard says, they come from

Cretan and Egiptian acephalous gods, but it turn up in IV millenium b.C. in Sumerian mithology abd in

Scythiam, Iranian and ancient Sardinian culture too. Multiple headed monsters were very spread

in mediterranean area: Greeks and Romans created characters like double headed Janus, Cerberus and chimaera.

But, strangely, a calcareous double head of III century turn up among celtic art finds and it seems very similar to

the Greek-Roman Janus

 

Triskel

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