Zibellino: tipi, funzioni e simbolismo

Portraits of the XV and XVI centuries sometimes feature unusual accessories - zibellini. They repeat the shape of wild animals from the Mustelidae: ermines, martens, sables. Such jewelry was made of animal fur, sometimes complemented by muzzles, earrings and paws made of precious metals and stones. Typically ladies wore zibellini on shoulders, held them in hands or attached them to the girdles with gold chains. The fashion for zibellini spread rapidly, first occupying Italy in twenty years and then spreading over Europe. Proactive discussion is being held about the function of the zibellino. In the XIX century one believed that fur was aimed to attract fleas and lure them away from the costume and hair. We consider the version about the meaning of zibellini as a talisman during pregnancy far more convincing. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses (IX, 280-323) the marten was directly connected with the servant Galanthis who helped Heracles to be born and as punishment was turned into a beast. It was in the form of the marten that Galanthis often appeared on special birth trays deschi da parto. In the context of pregnancy zibellino was depicted by Masaccio, Apollonio di Giovanni, Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo Lotto, Paolo Veronese; the accessory repeatedly appears in inventories of property. We managed to discover a mention of the zibellino in the Venetian wedding ceremony and prove that the connection with pregnancy was attached to the accessory from the very moment of its acquisition - on the occasion of the girl’s wedding, and was subsequently expressed in direct connection with the wedding belt. Our study also provides a rare example of a golden zibellino head from Musée Cluny, which has not previously been considered as part of an accessory. The zibellino was a luxurious piece of jewelry with the help of thus a lady could demonstrate her wealth and status. At the same time, it served as an amulet during the period of greatest fragility and defenselessness of the Renaissance woman.