I don't see an email contact thing, but I'l like to ask for some info on the following caption, appended to the gallery image of the segno in Fiore's Pissani-Dossi version;
"The use of these four animals to represent virtues or abilities is totally in tune with the nature of Italian art of this time, where the Four Evangelists were often represented as four creatures, each picked for the qualities that each of the Saints were perceived to have excelled in. They also have heraldic implications and at the time these animals had well-known (to the nobility) qualities, as prescribed by the Bestiary. The Elephant was often used as a motif for towns which had been besieged and yet stood defiant. Given Fiore's relations to Udine, this is perhaps particularly poignant.
getting some backing documentation on 1)the Four Dudes depicted as creatures w/ specific virtues, and 2)the town as an image for beseiged but strong towns is something very important. If anyone has any leads, please let me know ASAP.
-Mag
