#woodcuts

Today we’re going to take a look at two tailed sirens as symbols of flattery, in different editions of two different books: the Fior di Virtu, or Flower of Virtue, and the Acerba Etas.

The Fior di Virtu was a popular book when it was first published in the late 1400s. Originally written in Italian, it was translated into several languages, including French, German, and Croatian. It had chapters on virtues and vices, with sources drawn from different Christian texts, and was often illustrated with animals, including sirens. The Acerba is an encyclopaedic poem, on topics from the sciences to— you guessed it— virtues and vices.

It’s not surprising that sirens would included in these two books, as they were used in bestiaries, books in the middle ages about Christian morals, with animals real and fanatic used as examples. What is interesting is that these two books include two tailed sirens, for while single tailed mermaids were common in book illustrations, two tailed sirens were not as popular.

All of the illustrations depict the siren in the water, luring men in boats with her song, causing men to fall asleep, or menacing the sailors in other ways. Let’s take a look.

Two tailed siren putting sailors to sleep with her song. We can see one of the sailors with his head on his arms. Buch Der Tugend (Book of Virtue, German translation) Woodcut. By Hans Vintler, published by Johann Blaudirer. 1486. German. Note the red dress, as some frescos also have, and the fish legs.

Two tailed siren as symbol of flattery, woodcut in Fior di virtu, Florence, Bartolommeo di Libri (?), 1491, c7V. Via Biblioteca europea di informazione e cultura.

A pair of two tailed sirens putting sailors to sleep. Fiore di virtù. Venice: Matteo Capcasa (di Codeca), 15 January 1493. Page 28. Princeton University Library. It's interesting how the siren on the boat, facing away from us, keeps the same pose, her tails arched.

Twin-tailed siren, entrancing a man in a boat. Illustration from the book Acerbe etatis by Cecco d’Ascoli, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Pluteo 40.52, folio 43v. Second half of the 14th century.

This siren isn't from an edition of the Fiore di virtù, but I'm including her here because of the similarity of the scene: a two tailed siren in the water, distracting a sailor.

Two tailed sirens. Fleur de vertu, translated from Italian into French by François de Rohan Archbishop of Lyon, Primate of France and Bishop of Angers. 1501-1600. La Bibliothèque nationale de France

Aren't they lovely? I love that one is weilding a sword against the sailors, perhaps channeling her inner Scylla.

this list is by no means exhaustive— this Bestiary website has a list of more editions, which I'd like to peruse, when I have the time.

Sources

Bühler, Curt F. “Studies in the Early Editions of the ‘Fiore Di Virtù.’” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, vol. 49, no. 4, 1955, pp. 315–39. JSTOR.

Ciociola, Claudio. L'Autoesegesi Di Cecco d'Ascoli (1994).

Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Animali Fantastici : La Biblioteca in Mostra. Madragora, 2007.