Two tailed siren candelabras
After the Renaissance, the two tailed siren was used more in decorative art than as a meaningful figure. However, she keeps her iconic pose, likely inspired from ancient images of the Scythian snake-legged goddess: A young woman with two outstretched tails that she holds with her hands. I find it fascinating that this image remained so unchanged over the centuries, and continue in popularity.
The history of these siren candlesticks, produced in several workshops in Italy in the 1500s, has been chronicled by Alison Luchs in The Mermaids of Venice: Fantastic Sea Creatures in Venetian Renaissance Art, Chapter 5: Table: Bronze Sea Monsters for Private Homes in particular. Let’s admire these lovely, well-preserved two tailed sirens from museums around the world:
Candlestick in the shape of a two tailed siren. Workshop of Severo da Ravenna of Padua, Italy. Circa 1510 - 1530. In the Louvre.
Candlestick in the shape of a two tailed siren. Workshop of Severo da Ravenna of Padua, Italy. Circa 1510 - 1530. Candleholders might be modern additions. Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Both the sirens in the Louvre and the Philadelphia museum have their tails draped around their arms, similar to this Italian fresco, and they have acanthus leaf skirts, which sirens from ancient times have often worn. Luchs suggests the eagle-claw stands could be related to the sirens' ancient form as bird women.
Candlestick in the shape of a two tailed siren. Workshop of Severo da Ravenna of Padua, Italy. Circa 1510 - 1530. National Gallery of Art. The museum has photos of the siren from two angles, so we can see her long hair streaming down her back.
Candelabra, in the shape of a two tailed siren. Workshop of Severus of Ravenna, Italy, 1500s. National Archeological Museum, Madrid.
While the siren candlestick from the Madrid museum is damaged, the museum does have four photos of the siren, so we can see what it looks like in the round.
From the museum website:
"Candelabrum in the form of a Siren, with a nude torso, with subtle anatomical modeling; it has a forked tail, which it raises and wraps around its arms; it separates these from the body and raises them, forming with the palms of its hands the necessary base to hold two candelabras, now lost. The face of this example resembles the Venus of "Antico" preserved in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Coppel points out that different versions of the Siren theme are known; some (Foulc collection, Paris) preserve both candelabras; on other occasions, the model was used as a door knocker (examples in the National Gallery, Washington; the Berlin Museum; and the Palazzo Venezia Museum). This work was executed in the workshop of Severo Calzetta, known first as the "Master of the Dragons" and later as "Severus of Ravenna." His figures are distinguished by their abundant hair, schematic treatment of the muscles, and highly expressive hands. Triangular bases and square holes for inserting additional pieces with hand-made screws are common in his workshop. His foundry was undoubtedly one of the most prolific in Italy in the first half of the 16th century. This candelabra belonged to the Marquis of Salamanca, who amassed a significant collection of small bronzes during his business trips to Italy, which he sold to the Spanish State in 1873."
There are siren candlesticks from the same workshop in the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, and in the the Museo del Bargello.
I’m going to wrap up this post with a siren door knocker. While it’s not a candlestick, she’s also Italian, and an interesting example of this motif. Note that she doesn’t have arms, as she has wings instead:
Two tailed siren, door knocker. Italian, 16th century. National Gallery of Art.
She also has the siren’s traditional acanthus leaf skirt.
Sources
Luchs, Alison. The Mermaids of Venice: Fantastic Sea Creatures in Venetian Renaissance Art. Harvey Miller Publishers, 2010. Chapter 5: Table: Bronze Sea Monsters for Private Homes.