Face of a Bird, Legs of an Eagle: The Hybrid Venus in Medieval Texts of Image Magic and the So-Called Talisman of Catherine de’ Medici

Summary

The goddess Venus appears in medieval astrological magic as a bird-like hybrid with avian head and feet. This motif survived into early modern printed sources and talismans, most famously an 18th-century medallion called Catherine de Medici's talisman, which shows a classical Venus on one side and a seated Jupiter with a bird-headed hybrid on the other. Previous scholarship traced the hybrid to Cornelius Agrippa and the Picatrix, but this article demonstrates it appears in several older medieval sources independent of both. The text De sigillis, attributed to Arnoldus Saxo, likely provided the direct model for depicting two distinct Venus figures on one talisman. The avian hybrid Venus was a dynamic figure among non-classical hybrids, appearing in diverse contexts where astrological hybrids were rare.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article examines the imagery of the goddess Venus in medieval sources of astrological magic, focusing on a zoomorphic hybrid Venus characterized by avian features. Furthermore, the article examines the transmission of this motif into early modern printed sources and talismans. The most renowned among surviving items related to the hybrid Venus is the 18th-century medallion known as Catherine de Medici’s talisman, depicting on one side a classical Venus figure, and on the other, a seated Jupiter alongside a hybrid with the head and feet of a bird. In previous scholarship it has been argued that the hybrid figure, interpreted as Venus, derives from Cornelius Agrippa and the medieval magical compendium Picatrix. The study demonstrates that the same hybrid Venus appears in several other medieval sources predating Agrippa and independent of the Picatrix. These sources, explored in this article in detail, offer a new insight into the evolution of the zoomorphic Venus, providing a deeper understanding of the ways in which non-Christian and non-classical astrological iconography was transformed and found pathways within medieval literature. Based on the findings of this research, De sigillis attributed to Arnoldus Saxo, seems to provide the most direct model for depicting two distinct Venus figures within the same talisman. The article further argues that the avian hybrid Venus was a dynamic figure among non-classical hybrids, appearing in a relatively wide range of sources, including contexts where astrological hybrids were a rarity.

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