More from Natalie Zemon Davis, from the famous “Women on Top” essay.
“The most popular comic example of the female’s temporary rule, however, is Phyllis riding Aristotle, a motif recurring in stories, paintings, and household objects from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries.” (p. 135-6)
Apparently, the story goes that his pupil Alexander (the Great) was admonished by the philosopher for paying excessive attention to the lady in question, one of his new subjects from India. Phyliss got her revenge in front of Alexander by flirting with the old man and getting him to get down on all fours, to be ridden like a horse, with saddle and bridle.
More on the source here; some images here and here.
Oddly enough, although I am something of a habitue of art galleries and museums I’ve never come across this before. Perhaps it wasn’t a favourite topic for all those 18th-, 19th and 20th-century (male) collectors who shaped them.
About
2 Comments