Elisabetta Gonzaga and the Ambivalence of Scorpio in Medieval and Renaissance Art

This study concerns a portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, wearing a scorpion amulet on her forehead. My aim is to demonstrate that this scorpion relates to Elisabetta’s marital life. The doctrine of melothesia in Hellenistic, Hermetic and medieval astrology assigned control of the Scorpio constellation to the genitals. Renaissance astrological literature perpetuated the association of Scorpio with generative fertility and genitals, and mediated belief in the power of scorpion talismans to cure derangements of the reproductive system. Probably adopted soon after her marriage, Elisabetta’s scopion amulet was still worn when the portrait was painted, about sixteen years later when she remained childless. It will be shown that beyond fertility, the amulet’s symbolic associations were also consonant with purity and virginity.