The breasts on many
lines, quoted in the Novazio's letter, are ancient symbols of fertility
and a specific trait of Diana or Artemis of Ephesus, from the name of
the most famous temple dedicated to this goddess, that Herodotus
included among the Seven Wonders of the World. Up on the left the old
roman copy of the Farnese collection, now in the National Archeological
Museum of Naples; on the right "Madre Natura" of Villa d'Este in Tivoli,
realized by Giglio della Vellita. It's interesting to observe that at
least other two iconographies of Diana of Ephesus pertain to
the same period of Madre di tutti: down on the left the fresco by
Giovanni Maria Falconetto in the Palazzo d'Arco of Mantua; on the right
the portrait by Lorenzo Lotto to the antiques dealer Andrea Odoni, now
in the Hampton Court, Royal Collections UK.
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