“Heroes in a Half Shell”

August 19 2009, 11:50am

Figure 1: Carved Walnut Center Table. Probably German, circa 1710. Carlton Hobbs LLC. The tortoise has been represented in art throughout history and across the globe, from its depiction on ancient household objects, to it’s representation in literature, all the way up to 20th century pizza-eating, crime-fighting cartoons (named after Old Masters, no less1). Here we look at a few ways in which turtles have been used in the decorative arts and architecture. Figure 2: Virtuous woman atop a tortoise. Johan van Beverwijck, 17th century. The tortoise is represented in the mythologies of many cultures. In China, it is a symbol of longevity and endurance. To Native North Americans, the tortoise figures prominently regarding the origin of the earth, which is often carried on its back. In India, the world is supported by elephants that stands upon the back of a tortoise. A table in the Carlton Hobbs collection (figure 1), with a base of curious and ingenious design, seems likely to be a reference to these ancient creation myths, where the flat surface of the world rests on the tortoise’s back. Here the echo of that tradition is translated into a classical idiom with the addition of the form of a putto; bringing with it an admixture of the classical myth of Atlas holding aloft the heavens in the garden of the Hesperides. In Northern Europe, the tortoise represented modesty in marriage and morality. In a 17th century Dutch publication, Wtnementheit des Vrouwelijke Geslachten (On the Excellence of the Female Sex), Johan van Beverwijck (figure 2) depicts the ideal wife standing atop a tortoise, making the point that a virtuous woman was bound to the home and her duties there. Figure 3: Obelisk supported by tortoises. Boboli Gardens, Florence. Figure 4: Tomb of Piero and Giovanni de' Medici. S. Lorenzo, Florence. The tortoise symbol was also adopted by the Medici family from the Roman emperors Augustus and Constantine, along with the motto ‘Festina lente,’ or ‘Make haste slowly.’ “The implication is that careful and determined application will achieve better results than rushing at the same problem unprepared.”2 Tortoises support an Egyptian obelisk in the Boboli Gardens at the Pitti Palace (figure3), as well as the tomb of Piero and Giovanni de’ Medici in San Lorenzo in Florence (figure 4). Footnotes: 1. The four main characters in the popular 1980s/’90s televison cartoon “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” were named Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello. 2. Stemp, Richard. The Secret Language of the Renaissance: Decoding the Greatest Age of Italian Art. London: Duncan Baird, 2006. 42.