Cesare Ripa
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| - | '''Emblem books''' are a particular style of illustrated [[book]] developed in [[Europe]] during the 16th and [[17th century in literature|17th centuries]], normally containing about one hundred combinations of pictures and text. | + | '''Cesare Ripa''' (c. 1560 - c. 1622) was an Italian [[aesthetics|aesthetician]] who worked for Cardinal [[Anton Maria Salviati]] as a cook and butler. |
| - | Scholars differ on the key question of whether the actual [[emblem]]s in question are the visual images, the accompanying texts, or the combination of the two. This is understandable, given that the first emblem book, the [[Emblemata]] of [[Andrea Alciato]], was first issued in an unauthorized edition in which the [[woodcut]]s were chosen by the printer without any input from the author, who had circulated the texts in unillustrated manuscript form. Some early emblem books were unillustrated, particularly those issued by the French printer Denis de Harsy. With time, however, the reading public came to expect emblem books to contain picture-text combinations. Each combination consisted of a [[woodcut]] or [[engraving]] accompanied by one or more short texts, intended to inspire their readers to reflect on a general [[morality|moral]] lesson derived from the reading of both picture and text together. The picture was subject to numerous interpretations: only by reading the text could a reader be certain which meaning was intended by the author. Thus the books are closely related to the personal symbolic picture-text combinations called [[personal device]]s, known in Italy as ''imprese'' and in France as ''devises''. | + | Not much is known about his life. He was born in [[Perugia]] and died in [[Rome]]. After the death of the cardinal, Ripa worked for his relatives. He was knighted after publishing a highly successful book called ''Iconologia'', which he wrote in his free time. |
| - | Emblem books, both [[secular]] and [[religious]], attained enormous popularity throughout continental Europe, though in [[Great Britain|Britain]] they never captured the imagination of readers to the same extent. The books were especially numerous in the [[Netherlands]], [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], and [[France]]. [[Andrea Alciato]] wrote the epigrams contained in the first and most widely disseminated emblem book, the ''[[Emblemata]]'', published by Heinrich Steyner in 1531 in [[Augsburg]]. Another influential illustrated book was [[Cesare Ripa|Cesare Ripa's ''Iconologia'']], first published in 1593, though it is not properly speaking an emblem book but a collection of erudite allegories. | + | The ''Iconologia overo Descrittione Dell’imagini Universali cavate dall’Antichità et da altri luoghi'' was a highly influential [[emblem book]] based on Egyptian, Greek and Roman emblematical representations. The book was used by [[orator]]s, [[artist]]s and [[poet]]s to give substance to qualities such as [[virtue]]s, [[vice]]s, [[passion]]s, [[arts]] and [[sciences]]. The concepts were arranged in a [[Renaissance]] way, the alphabetical order. For each there was a verbal description of the [[allegory|allegorical]] figure proposed by Ripa to embody the concept, giving the type and color of its clothing and its varied symbolic [[paraphernalia]]s, along with the reasons why these were chosen, reasons often supported by references to literature (largely classical). |
| - | Early European studies of [[Egyptian hieroglyphics]], like that of [[Athanasius Kircher]], assumed that the hieroglyphics were emblems, and imaginatively interpreted them accordingly. | + | The first edition of his ''Iconologia'' was published in in 1593 and dedicated to Anton Maria Salviati. A second edition was published in Rome in 1603 this time with 684 concepts and 151 [[woodcut]]s, dedicated to Lorenzo Salviati. The book was extremely influential in the 17th and 18th centuries and was quoted extensively in various art forms. In particular, it influenced the painter [[Pietro da Cortona]] and his followers. Also Dutch painters like [[Gerard de Lairesse]], [[Willem van Mieris]] based work on Ripa's emblems. [[Vermeer]] used the information on the muse [[Clio]] for his [[The Art of Painting]]. A large part of [[Vondel]]'s work cannot be understood without this allogorical source, and ornamentation of the Amsterdam [[Royal Palace (Amsterdam)|townhall]] by [[Artus Quellinus]], a sculptor, is totally dependent on Ripa. |
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| + | The baroque painter [[Antonio Cavallucci]] drew from the book the inspiration for his painting ''Origin of Music''. In 1779 the British architect [[Georg Richardson]], published in London his ''Iconology; or a Collection of Emblematical Figures; containing four hundred and twenty-four remarkable subjects, moral and instructive; in which are displayed the beauty of Virtue and deformity of Vice.'' The drawings were by [[William Hamilton (painter)|William Hamilton ]]. In 1819 [[Filippo Pitrucci]], a London based artist, published his version of ''Iconologia''. | ||
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| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Andrea Alciato]] | ||
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Cesare Ripa (c. 1560 - c. 1622) was an Italian aesthetician who worked for Cardinal Anton Maria Salviati as a cook and butler.
Not much is known about his life. He was born in Perugia and died in Rome. After the death of the cardinal, Ripa worked for his relatives. He was knighted after publishing a highly successful book called Iconologia, which he wrote in his free time.
The Iconologia overo Descrittione Dell’imagini Universali cavate dall’Antichità et da altri luoghi was a highly influential emblem book based on Egyptian, Greek and Roman emblematical representations. The book was used by orators, artists and poets to give substance to qualities such as virtues, vices, passions, arts and sciences. The concepts were arranged in a Renaissance way, the alphabetical order. For each there was a verbal description of the allegorical figure proposed by Ripa to embody the concept, giving the type and color of its clothing and its varied symbolic paraphernalias, along with the reasons why these were chosen, reasons often supported by references to literature (largely classical).
The first edition of his Iconologia was published in in 1593 and dedicated to Anton Maria Salviati. A second edition was published in Rome in 1603 this time with 684 concepts and 151 woodcuts, dedicated to Lorenzo Salviati. The book was extremely influential in the 17th and 18th centuries and was quoted extensively in various art forms. In particular, it influenced the painter Pietro da Cortona and his followers. Also Dutch painters like Gerard de Lairesse, Willem van Mieris based work on Ripa's emblems. Vermeer used the information on the muse Clio for his The Art of Painting. A large part of Vondel's work cannot be understood without this allogorical source, and ornamentation of the Amsterdam townhall by Artus Quellinus, a sculptor, is totally dependent on Ripa.
The baroque painter Antonio Cavallucci drew from the book the inspiration for his painting Origin of Music. In 1779 the British architect Georg Richardson, published in London his Iconology; or a Collection of Emblematical Figures; containing four hundred and twenty-four remarkable subjects, moral and instructive; in which are displayed the beauty of Virtue and deformity of Vice. The drawings were by William Hamilton . In 1819 Filippo Pitrucci, a London based artist, published his version of Iconologia.
See also
