Book contents
2 - Middle Ages and Renaissance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
Summary
THE LUPA AS SYMBOL OF POWER AT THE LATERAN
From the top of her column hard by the Lateran, the She-Wolf looked forth. The bronze figure still stood erect, just as it had been cast by the Etruscan founder in the first days of Rome. Ever since it had been removed from the Capitol where it used to stand – this wild soul of the city – the bronze beast had kept sentinel in this square, and guarded the ruins of Rome's greatness. One by one the centuries had crumbled away, but firm upon her pedestal the She-Wolf kept her place. With wide open eyes that embraced the horizon, and sharp ears cocked to catch the floating rumors, she ground her teeth fiercely. Two thousand years had not lulled her vigilance, and the jaws that seemed to be growling had not been shut.
(Formont 11)Maxime Formont's 1912 historical novel, The She-Wolf: A Romance of the Borgias, provides imaginative insight to the impression that the bronze beast must have made during her Lateran residence – the sense of her might heightened by physical and historical distance (she was positioned atop the column and reminiscent of an ancient founder), as well as by the belief in the Lupa's origin on the Capitoline Hill, her endurance across the ages, and the sharp fierceness of her eyes, ears, teeth, and jaws. Although Formont's novel is set during the high Renaissance, the Lupa stayed before the Lateran Palace only until 1471.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- She-WolfThe Story of a Roman Icon, pp. 40 - 62Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010