Dubious Dolphins – Depictions of Exotic Animals in Roman Art

Lions and tigers and… Dolphins? Oh my!

I have long been interested in depictions of animals in art, especially when they are less than perfect. Who could forget the cat with the human face from the painting below? Or the many weird and wonderful hybrid forms we find in medieval manuscripts? Snails with fish heads, lizards with chickens legs, birds with fishtails…. the list goes on.

However, there is one animal in particular that seems to have caused problems for artists through the ages and that is – the dolphin. The dolphins that we see in Ancient and Renaissance art look nothing like the creatures we all know and love these days – is this the result of Classical influence, or a long standing game of Chinese whispers? I have always been fascinated with depictions of dolphins in art, and on a recent trip to Rome, I decided to play a week long game of spot the dolphin! This week I’ll be taking a break from Art 101 to show you the highlights…

Dolphins draw Venus’ carriage in a painting from the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome

Gone is the playful cuteness of dear old Flipper – these dolphins do not resemble the fun, adorable creatures that people clamour to swim with on holidays. Instead, they range from the hilarious to the horrific – gaping, swollen mouths and protuberances on their heads, or sharp, vicious teeth and glaring eyes stare back at the viewer in an almost threatening way. Why are past artistic depictions of dolphins so wrong, especially when they are created by some of the most celebrated artists of their eras? There are two main schools of thought on this matter, and they both have their validity, in my opinion.

A depiction of a dolphin-like sea creature from the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome

Word of Mouth

The first reason given for these disastrous dolphins is something of an urban legend, a story passed down through generations, poking fun at people from times gone by. “People didn’t know what dolphins looked like!” we’re told. This is not far from the truth – it is true that in the past, especially in Ancient times and in the Renaissance, that people didn’t have the same levels of access to information, or indeed travel that we do today. Thus, there was little opportunity for artists to observe exotic creatures first hand and paint them from life.

A dolphin-shaped tap in Rome

This brings forth the idea of a global game of Chinese whispers… Often, an explorer would send back a written or verbal description of animals, and it was from these accounts that artists attempted to recreate these creatures. But how, you may ask, did it get so twisted? Perhaps the man who wrote home about seeing a dolphin with a “huge, bulbous forehead, a perpetually angry disposition, large, sharp rows of terrifying teeth, human eyes and gaping nostrils…” was really seeing something else (a shark? The Loch Ness monster? A fever dream?), or perhaps the story got twisted in the retelling.

Dolphins on a water feature in St Peter’ Basilica, Rome

Regardless, if this is indeed the case… Maybe this is the first instance where you SHOULD shoot the messenger! We are left with a perpetuating trend of creating some creepy and frankly quite terrifying dolphins that can still be found all over the world, particularly in Rome, where all of the included photographs were taken.

Dolphin on an indoor fountain in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome

However, I have always felt that this explanation was overly simplistic, and it really takes away from the talent and skill of these artists. How could Gian Lorenzo Bernini, an artist known for some of the most breathtakingly realistic depictions of humans in marble of all time, create something so unrealistic and stylised as the dolphins below on the Fountain of Triton in Piazza Barberini? There is no way that an artist so skilled in life study would have unintentionally created such bad likenesses to the real creatures – could this have been a conscious choice?

Fontana del Tritone by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, c.1642-3

Classical Influence

This brings us onto the second proposed explanation for these zany creatures – and that is, as was the hallmark of the Renaissance, an obsession with classical antiquity. Dolphins were important creatures to the Ancients. Dolphins to this day are one of the symbols of Greece. Ancient Greeks referred to the dolphins as  philomousoi, which means lovers of music, as they believed that dolphins danced when they heard music. Dolphins feature heavily in many Greek and Roman myths and legends. Now, this could be where our stories intersect.

An Ancient Roman dolphin mosaic in the Vatican City

It is probable that the Greeks and Romans did come to their understanding of dolphins due to word of mouth descriptions. However, in the Renaissance, there was some 1000 more years of dolphin research, with easier access to the seas and animal study – how had these depictions not improved? The more likely answer is that this was simply due to a stylistic choice by the Renaissance and Baroque artists to continue making work in the Classical style. After all, this period of art was all about reviving the past and paying homage to what they felt was the golden age of human existence and artistic endeavours, and it is only right that regardless of authenticity, they would feel that the classical depictions of dolphins were the ones that they should be seeking to convey.

Dolphins in Raphael’s fresco of Galatea in the Villa Farnesina, c.1512

Whatever the reasoning for these majestic creatures – whether it was an oversight or a stylistic choice – I think we can all agree that it is effective and thoroughly entertaining. Especially in a city so artistically cultured as Rome, where you can see incredibly beautiful masterpieces everywhere you look – you can get a little bit art drunk from all the beauty and perfection. In my opinion, the wonderful little dubious dolphins and all their eccentric exotic animal counterparts are a fun little breath of fresh air – some fun amongst the fabulous. What weird and wonderful animals will you find on your next trip to the museum?

A fragment of a marble dolphin from the Vatican collection.

All images courtesy of the author