The Evil Eye in Italian Art

Abstract

All the peoples of the earth have feared the power of the evil eye, and an earnest faith in its malign potency can be traced to the dawn of folklore.¹ Vision has always been the most mysterious of the bodily functions, and therefore has been often associated in one way or another with some type of magic. In general, there seems to have been a belief that an emanation, frequently conceived as a ray of light, proceeded from the eye to the object seen, and hence evil influences could travel from the beholder to affect those things which came into his field of vision. Primitive man refused to concede that illness and death were natural phenomena and commonly held that they were the result of supernatural causes. With the firm and widespread fear of the evil eye, it was but natural that he should consider this form of necromancy one of the chief sources of his unhappiness.² For instance, the Bible states that “… Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna and took away the ornaments like the moon that were on their camels' necks.”³ From this it is evident that the Midianite herdsmen, like the modern Arabs, were certain that a camel suddenly ailing was the victim of black magic, and more particularly that the sickness was caused by the glance of an ill-disposed person. But magic could only be fought with magic, and so they hung about their camels' necks moon-shaped amulets to ward off harm. But the matter did not stop there, for human beings were likewise stricken mysteriously, and what could be more natural than to suppose that these, too, were the victims of a poisoned glance ? Thus the admonition: “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats.” For if you do: “The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.”⁴