Past research on animals in Renaissance art has indicated their functions as signifiers of human characteristics. This study demonstrates stages in developments of Renaissance art that illustrate transitions from anthropocentric to theriocentric approaches in animal symbolism, where animals are perceived and valued in their own right. Traditional negative animal symbolism was not relinquished, but new types of animal depictions have testified to new attitudes. Iconography of the dog and the ape, for example, represents two issues relating to human-animal relationships in the Renaissance. Changing conceptions of the dog, its function in artistic narrative, as related to the artist, his self-image and awareness of the spectator, are examined. The ape became a metaphor of the universal artist and clever imitator of nature. While late-sixteenth- and seventeenth-century illustrations referring to artistic imitatio were harshly judicial, the idea of animals as mediators is demonstrated by the artist who tends not only to empathize with animals but also to identify with them.

过去文艺复兴时期对动物的研究表明它们作为人类特征的象征。这项研究展示了文艺复兴时期艺术发展的各个阶段，这些阶段说明了动物象征主义中从以人为中心向以动物为中心的转变，在这种情况下，动物被独立地感知和重视。传统的负面动物象征主义并没有被放弃，但是新型的动物描绘已经证明了新的态度。例如，狗和猿的肖像画代表了两个与文艺复兴时期人畜关系有关的问题。考察了狗的观念变化，它在艺术叙事中的作用，与艺术家，他的自我形象和观众的意识有关。猿成为了世界艺术家和自然界的聪明模仿者的隐喻。模仿是严格的司法制度，艺术家将动物作为调解人的想法得到了证明，他不仅倾向于同情动物，而且倾向于与动物认同。