The "Symbolicae Quaestiones" of Achille Bocchi: Humanist emblems and Counter-Reformation communication.
Item
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Title
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The "Symbolicae Quaestiones" of Achille Bocchi: Humanist emblems and Counter-Reformation communication.
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Identifier
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AAI9029967
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identifier
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9029967
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Creator
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Pinkus, Karen Elyse.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Seth Schein
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Date
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1990
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Comparative | Literature, Romance | Biography
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Abstract
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This dissertation is an historical and theoretical account of the Renaissance emblem in the social and political context of Counter Reformation Italy. In general, emblems have been defined as a literary form combining text and visual image, often collected into books under some thematic or ideological rubric. I address general issues concerning the nature of emblematics--the particular powers of the picture-word combination to symbolize or veil information--as I also focus on one particular emblem book, Achille Bocchi's Symbolicae Quaestiones (Bologna, 1555). This collection of 150 emblems addressed to contemporaries of the professor of Greek and Rhetoric, spanning the social hierarchy from Emperors, Kings, Popes, and Bishops to merchants in Bologna, also engaged many of the theological issues being debated at the Council of Trent. Bocchi urged moderation in the spirit of early Italian "Evangelicism," and sought to reconcile various polemical positions through his images. Moreover, the emblems served as part of a larger scheme to ingratiate Bocchi with powerful individuals in order to gain tax breaks, course relief, funds for the construction of a private academy, and other benefits.;Within this perspective, I posit the emblem, not as a marginal form or mere curiosity, but as a central discursive mode in humanist, philological practice. Much of my evidence comes from unpublished archival manuscripts and documents found in various libraries in Italy. I combine this information with rigorous theoretical notions of visual perception in an attempt to define the importance of pictures for humanist ideology in general. Specifically, I discuss the contacts Bocchi made with various individuals and the ways he managed to communicate with them during a period of textual censorship. The dissertation draws conclusions about the importance of visual images for the reproduction and dissemination of humanist ideology which may have repercussions for contemporary thought concerning visual perception.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
