Virtus Zallot's 'Un Medioevo di abbracci' explores embraces in medieval art

Art historian Virtus Zallot has published a new book titled 'Un Medioevo di abbracci. Non solo d’amore, non solo umani' (Il Mulino, 2024), examining the iconography of embraces in medieval art. Zallot, who previously wrote 'Sulle teste nel Medioevo. Storie e immagini di capelli' (2021), applies a Nouvelle Histoire approach blending iconography and semiotics. The book traces embraces from medieval works to the Salone dei Mesi in Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, where Ercole de Roberti depicted Mars and Ilia, and references Botticelli's Primavera showing Zephyr embracing Chloris. Zallot also discusses the maternal embrace in Marian iconography, authorized by the Council of Ephesus in 413, and the Glicofileusa type. The study extends beyond the Middle Ages, connecting to modern works like Umberto Boccioni's 'Gli Addii' (1911-12). The book argues that embraces can signify love, consolation, or entrapment, and that visual analysis of gestures reveals cultural layers. Zallot's methodology offers a framework for reading embraces across art history.