Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Saint John the Baptist: Leonardo da Vinci (gynandros style)
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Saint John the Baptist: Leonardo da Vinci (gynandros style)
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Saint John the Baptist, by Leonardo da Vinci shows Saint John
the Baptist in gynandrous style (effectively, as a ganymede):
very effeminte. The gynandrous style is made even more
effective by using sfumato.
Thus the concept of the ganymede is one of a ruler (eagle) served by
his servant (ganymede) now in parallel, a ruler such as god, served
by Saint John the Baptist. Thus in another painting: "Allegory of
the Battle of Montemurlo", the Ganymede represents the victorious
young Duke Cosimo Medici who has "risen by the grace of God...into heaven",
the eagle no longer representing Jove, but emperor Charles V.
Leonardo da Vinci was very influenced by the views of alchemists about
hermaphroditism, also combining the views of the androgynous myth
of the ganymede.
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Alchemy
Alchemy: Rosarium Philosophorum Hermaphroditism: joining male and female: Androgynous
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