Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism
by Thomas Inman, M.D. (1874)
Pagan and Christian symbolism

Figs. 15-16

Figures 15, 16, are copies of Diana of the Ephesians; the first is from Hislop, who quotes Kitto's Illustrated Commentary, vol. v., p. 250; the second from Higgins' Anacalypsis, who quotes Montfauçon, plate 47. I remember to have seen a figure similar to these in the Royal Museum at Naples.

The tower upon the head represents virginity (see Ancient Faiths, second edition, Vol. i., p. 144); the position of the hand forms a cross with the body: the numerous breasts indicate abundance; the black colour of Figure 16 indicates the ordinary tint of the feminine lanugo, the almost universal colour of the hair of the Orientals being black about the yoni as well as on the head; or, as some mythologists imagine, "Night," who is said to be one of the mothers of creation. (See Ancient Faiths, second edition, Vol. n., p. 882.) The emblems upon the body indicate the attributes or symbols of the male and female creators.