EROTICA, SIREN WITH FRAMBOISE Eastern France or... Lot 7

EROTICA, SIREN WITH FRAMBOISE Eastern France or Southern Germany, 16th century Lime tree; remains of polychromy H. 131 cm This beautiful lime tree sculpture represents a mermaid in the guise of a winged woman with a double fish tail. She is smiling. Her unkempt hair curls at the birth of her wings. Acanthus scrolls form her arms while two fish tails with finely carved scales take the place of her legs. This type of mermaid, which has its sources in Romanesque art, experienced a new fervor during the Renaissance, particularly in the Germanic area, as evidenced by the collections of ornaments or a model of a carafe engraved by Albrecht Altdorfer (fig. 1). The mermaids are then adorned with precious or fanciful finery as here, where in the manner of a term, her hips are draped with a garland of fruit. In place of her sex, a fleshy raspberry which has kept traces of polychromy. This fruit, pinkened by the blood of the nymph Ida, grew in abundance north of the Alps. The word raspberry "hintperi" is attested in Latin-German glossaries from the 10th-11th century.