The symbolism of the snail in Christianity: What are the most famous paintings with this creature?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The snail is one of those creatures that not everyone likes. Children usually find them interesting, but adults are unlikely to like the snail found in the garden. Such a small creature may seem frivolous, but it has a deep spiritual meaning, playing a special role for Christianity. What symbolism does the snail carry, and also what is the most famous canvas that this creature contains?

Snail symbolism in culture

Speaking about the symbolism of the snail, first of all we will pay attention to the spiral shell, of course. Many ancient cultures regard this detail as a cycle of life, death and rebirth. It also represents the rotation of the Earth around the Sun.

But the sluggishness of the snail made it an animal often associated with inactivity. Often a person can be compared to a snail: if his gestures or actions are unhurried, slow, or he walks like a "snail". In addition, snails could be indicators of certain signs. For example, Hesiod, a poet from ancient Greece, wrote that when snails climbed onto the stems of plants, it was a sign for the upcoming harvest. For the Greeks, the snail was an attribute of fertility and agricultural work. The ancient Aztecs considered the snail to be a sacred creature because its shell represented the cycle of life. There were also Aztec gods, whose sacred animal was a snail. For example, the Aztec God with the complicated name Techiztecatl was a lunar deity who had a snail shell on his back. Just as a snail enters its shell, the moon recedes into the depths of the ocean. In Egypt and Babylon, snails were considered a symbol of eternity and fertility. And in the age of Protestantism, snails were an expression of modesty (I carry everything with me).

Before Christianity used the snail as a symbol of the deadly sin of laziness, other ancient cultures considered the snail sacred.

So, the main symbolism of the snail is • overcoming the gap between the Earth and Water, • overcoming the spiritual barrier between the physical and spiritual worlds, • snail shell - the spiral of life, death and rebirth, the rotation of the Earth around the Sun • leisurely and enjoyment of life and the moment.

The symbolism of the snail in Christianity

From the still life genre to contemporary art, snails have been featured in a variety of artistic directions. They also played an outstanding role in many works of Christian art, where they were considered a symbol of a deadly sin - laziness (since this is a creature that does not seek to get food and eats everything organic that it sees in its path). It was also believed that snails were born from clay.

"Annunciation" by Francesco Del Cossa

The most famous piece of art is, please, the painting "Annunciation" by Francesco Del Cosa. What do we see on the canvas? At the moment (such a sacred moment!) Of the Annunciation, a huge snail crawls from the archangel to the Mother of God through the magnificent palace of Mary, without taking his eyes off them. What does this rather nasty creature do in a painting with a sacred plot? A little more, and in the foreground we will see a trail of mucus behind the snail! In the palace of Mary, the pure, pristine, immaculate Virgin Mary, the slippery snail brings mess and slime. This is too much … Surely, there is some special meaning, a heavenly function, with which the talented artist del Cossa decided to give the snail such a prominent place in the picture of the Annunciation.

This altarpiece was created by del Cossoy in 1468–70. for the chapel in the Cestello church in Florence (now Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi). In the picture, the snail is a completely earthly creature that does not notice the amazing miracle that is happening with it. It was written with amazing accuracy and realism. The roughness of the shell is felt, and characteristic light lines are visible on the body. By the way, the curators of the Dresden gallery, where the canvas is now, made from the famous snail del Cossa a kind of trademark of the museum, which could well compete with the angels of Raphael's "Sistine Madonna". In the foyer of the gallery, they even sell symbolic paraphernalia depicting this snail.

So, the snail in the foreground is traditionally interpreted as a symbol of the Mother of God and the Immaculate Conception (according to medieval knowledge, snails reproduce from the rain). When the dove of the Holy Spirit flies from heaven to saturate the eternal virgin Mary, her symbol, the eternal virgin snail, quietly crawls along the edge of the frame. However, it is also a connecting link connecting two otherwise incommensurable spheres - the earthly and the holy.

Matisse and his "Snail"

If the most famous snail in painting belongs to del Cossa's brush, then Henri Matisse's snail can be called the most extravagant and unusual. After all, it is made from scraps of paper. After 1948, Matisse, as a result of an operation, was unable to paint with a brush. The artist was bedridden. But this did not prevent the master from continuing his talent and creating. Matisse came up with a new way of creating his works. From now on, works were performed using cut pieces of paper, which were painted with gouache and later made up a composition on canvas. In this matter, Matisse, of course, had assistants.

The monumental work in this new style was precisely The Snail, which was performed at the Hotel Régina in Nice.

"Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Sebastian" Carlo Crivelli

Kriveli's works are usually purely religious in nature. Although his classic, realistic body types and symmetrical compositions follow the rules of Renaissance painting. Behind the knee of St. Francis is the donator's knee. Usually, male donors were depicted on the right hand of the Madonna, that is, to the left of the picture, and women, on the contrary, on the right. The figures in this painting, dressed in richly patterned brocade, are closely intertwined with each other in a luxuriously decorative interior. Crivelli's work is incredible attention to detail and meticulous nuance.

And here, of course, we also see this "cute" creature - a snail. Its symbolism is one of the most interesting. It is believed that the Crivelli snail is one of the attributes of the incarnation of God. The snail exposes the illusory nature of painting, shows that the mystery of the Incarnation cannot be described by any pictorial means. We know that painting will always lean towards allegory, will always strive to unravel the artist's hidden secrets (if any). Whereas true art, reflected across the boundaries of brilliant painting, is felt only by a snail, not distinguishing between objects, but feeling light and warmth.

This little creature and her presence in paintings with Christian motives generated a lot of controversy. What is the secret of her appearance at the feet of the archangel? What is the snail to the right of Mary doing? What is the reason for its size in the composition of the painting? There are a lot of questions. Whether there is a mystery hidden in the snail or not will remain unknown to us. But this secret allows us viewers to create our own allegorical meanings in the picture.