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The Hidden Symbolic Meaning of Spiders
in Western painting
The iconographical interpretation of Arachnids in Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance Painting. William H. Hunt once wrote "When language was not transcendental enough to complete the meaning of a revelation, symbols were relied upon for heavenly teaching, and familiar images, chosen from the known, were made to mirror the unknown spiritual truth." Until the 19th century European art was mostly concerned with religious subject matter. Spider iconography dates back to ancient times.
Byzantine, Gothic and Early Renaissance paintings are rich in philosophical and Christian symbolism regarding Spiders.
Spider - associated with betrayal, ill begotten schemes, and death.
Spider in a Web - symbolizes a spinner of fate, intrigue in the court.
Spider on a hand - a reminder of mans mortality
Spiders in the Bible The Meaning of Sacred
Symbols in Paintings. Most
prominently featured
symbols and their
meaning:
"His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the
spider's web. " -- Job 8:14
"They give birth to snake's eggs, and make spider's threads: whoever
takes their eggs for food comes to his death, and the egg which is
crushed becomes a poison-snake." -- Isaiah 59:5
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