Female centaur victim of false labeling?

I just scanned my woodblock print of Salvador Dali’s depiction of Dante’s Inferno, Canto 12.

daliMinotauress.jpg

Commonly known to scholars and galleries as “The Minotaur,” some revisionism is needed, because as anyone with a minimal knowledge of mythology can see, the image clearly shows a centaur — and a female centaur at that. There’s a male archer too who appears to have just shot an arrow, and while his involvement with the centaur is not exactly clear, she seems to be looking at him. In the background, another centaur holds a spear.
Here’s the relevant text of Canto 12

And between this and the embankment’s foot
Centaurs in file were running, armed with arrows,
As in the world they used the chase to follow.
Beholding us descend, each one stood still,
And from the squadron three detached themselves,
With bows and arrows in advance selected;
And from afar one cried: “Unto what torment
Come ye, who down the hillside are descending?
Tell us from there; if not, I draw the bow.”
My Master said: “Our answer will we make
To Chiron, near you there; in evil hour,
That will of thine was evermore so hasty.”
Then touched he me, and said: “This one is Nessus,
Who perished for the lovely Dejanira,
And for himself, himself did vengeance take.
And he in the midst, who at his breast is gazing,
Is the great Chiron, who brought up Achilles;
That other Pholus is, who was so wrathful.
Thousands and thousands go about the moat
Shooting with shafts whatever soul emerges
Out of the blood, more than his crime allots.”

As to the artist’s own view, he seems to have been inspired by reading the text of Dante to come up with the images, but once he did the paintings he moved on to other things, leaving the publisher to come up with names.
So collectors are stuck calling this poor girl “the Minotaur.”
MORE: The Minotaur has a man’s body and a bull’s head, and there is no such thing as a female bull, so unless Dali was anticipating postmodernist interpretation, I don’t think the above can possibly be construed as a female Minotaur.


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3 responses to “Female centaur victim of false labeling?”

  1. Mick Avatar
    Mick

    I’ll grant that out of all the mythological creatures Im familiar with, this one does most closely represents a centaur, but Dali’s version is lacking the full human torso with arms in addition to the full horse body with legs. I would expect a ‘real’ centaur to have 6 limbs instead of the 4 depicted.
    Since minotaurs do have 4 limbs, this difference may have led to the mis-labeling of the creature.

  2. Eric Scheie Avatar

    Hmmm…
    Maybe a female satyr.
    Or maybe Dali was anticipating postmodernism, by engaging in mythological gender bending.

  3. Mick Avatar
    Mick

    Is it a female though? It looks like its got female breasts but theres also hair on its chest. The breasts could be a Dali-esque distortion of male pectoral muscles.
    Given its historical context, I think we can discount the long hair on its head as being sex specific.