Mauro Ferrante

Emblems are, in essence, images that speak. As Dame Frances Amelia Yates noted in her studies, the type of emblems in use during the Renaissance seem to have originated from the in-depth study of Egyptian hieroglyphs, which were believed to be images containing a divine meaning: they represented the fundamental key to understanding the secrets of nature and the universe. This contribution will focus on the fortune of emblematic literature in Renaissance England, with particular attention paid to the interpretations of Giordano Bruno and Sir Francis Bacon. Bruno was in England from April 1583 until the end of 1585. In this period he published many of his most significant works, also regarding the relationship between images, knowledge and the art of memory. In particular, it is taken into consideration De gli eroici furori, published in London in 1585 and dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney. It is a non-illustrated book of emblems in which the author, through his explanation of images, and “making them speak” as it were, shows how they offer the only means via which to access an otherwise unattainable knowledge. Three other works on the art of memory, published in London in 1583 in a single volume, are also considered: the Sigillus sigillorum, the Ars reminescendi and the Triginta sigillorum explicatio. In the latter, Bruno himself states that "philosophers are in some way painters and poets, poets are painters and philosophers; painters are philosophers and poets". The second part of the contribution is focused on the role of emblematic literature in the works Sir Francis Bacon. If in the Advancement of learning (1605) he states that “emblem reduceth conceits intellectual to images sensible, which strike the memory more”, it is in De sapientia veterum (1609) that the use of images, figurative and emblematic language, reaches its highest expression. Bacon uses images whenever he needs to address concepts that would otherwise be too abstract and difficult to understand. Although there is no evidence that Bruno and Bacon knew each other personally, it is known that in the same years they both attended the same circles in London, first and foremost the court of Queen Elizabeth and the circle of Sir Philip Sidney. Therefore, both can certainly be considered relevant examples of the fortune of emblematic literature and the prominent role of images in the culture of Renaissance England. The discussion of the chosen passages is accompanied by images and emblems taken from the most popular emblem books in circulation at the time (e. g. Alciati’s Emblematum liber), as well as – where present – by the images contained in the works of the two authors.