Apollo, July 1st, 2004
The mysterious monsters who lurk beneath the pedestal of the Virgin in Andrea del Sarto's Madonna of the Harpies have been variously interpreted--as sphinxes and locusts as well as harpies. Simona Cohen argues that they are embodiments of Original Sin, and explains why the artist chose grotesque female figures to depict the idea.
Andrea del Sarto's Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and John the Evangelist (Fig. 1), which is signed on the pedestal and dated 1517, has long had the misleading title of Madonna of the Harpies. This derives from Vasari's description in his Lives of the Artist...
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