What is the meaning of Emblem? Concept, Definition of Emblem
Definition of emblem
1 Meaning of the emblem
Between the 15th and 18th centuries it was called emblem (also company, hieroglyph or currency) from the Greek ἔμβλημα (emblem), composed of the prefix ἐν (en) and βάλλputa ω (put), which means "what is placed inside and enclosed", an enigmatic image provided with a phrase or legend to decipher a hidden moral sense collecting further down in verse or prose.The emblem arose when Andrea Alciato, Italian Jurisconsult, composed 99 Latin epigrams, each of which put a title. He dedicated the work to the Duke Maximiliano Sforza, and fortune wanted that, through the imperial counselor Peutinger, the work came at the hands of the printer Steyner who, with business vision, was considered the appropriate thing would be to add an illustration to each epigram. The task was entrusted to the engraver Breuil, and the book was published in 1531 in Augsburg with the title Emblematum liber. The play was a huge success (has reached more than 175 editions) and was soon commented or imitated by other authors as claude Paradin and Paolo Giovio. Torcuato Tasso wrote a dialogue dell'imprese (Naples, ca. 1594) and Emanuele Tesauro composed Il Cannocchiale Aristotelico, or sia Idea delle Argutezze Heroiche vulgarly chiamate Imprese, et di tutta l' symbolic and lapidary art (Venice, 1655). Finally, Cesare Trevisani wrote another treatise on emblematic: the printed... ampiamente da lui stesso dichiarata (Genoa, 1569).The classic emblem consists of three elements:
• A figure (pictura, icon, image, symbolon), usually incised in an engraving xylographic or intaglio, but also can be painted, embroidered or inlaid wood often called their authors 'body' of the emblem. The image is of paramount importance so that the moral precept that is intended to convey is engraved in the memory after decryption sense. In this regard, Diego de Saavedra Fajardo, in the prologue to his political business, points to the Prince Baltasar Carlos:I suggest to your Highness the idea of a Christian political Prince, represented with the engraver and pen, so that by the eyes and ears - instruments of the know - is more informed the mood of V.A. in science of the reign and serve contrived memory figures.
While today is the part that most interest to historians of art, in some books, especially in Spain, are dispensed with entirely from the pictura, well because they preferred that the reader imagines it is a description from literary or simply because it was expensive and not always possible to find recorders.
• A title (inscriptio, titulus, motto, lemma) which is usually a sentence or sharpness, in a cryptic way, almost always in latin, which gives a clue to complete the sense of the image as "soul" emblem. The nickname used to be available on the top of the figure inside engraving, in a phylactery, rarely appears at the bottom or do they tend to be verses from the sacred books. Some emblemistas made up nicknames, but most came from statements taken from the classics, the fathers of the Church, the Bible... Be considered commendable exercise know to apply a concept to a preexisting sentence.
• An explanatory text (subscriptio, epigramma, declaratio) that interrelates the sense that transmits the pictura and expresses the mote. Most often, this explanation is usually done in verse, using Latin epigrams or in vernacular language, according to which receiver was intended for the message. The form of the epigram lent itself to transmit a description of the painting and a second part with the morality that locked up. During the 16th century, it was common that the epigram was in latin; as the century progressed the epigram in the vernacular, in sonnets, increasingly more octaves, coplas de redondillas, silvas... Frequently, the epigram is followed by a note in prose, that extends and clarifies the meaning, or that is used to show scholarship by the emblemista. This formula is very common in Spain, where it glossing the or statement is sometimes several pages and is like a moralizing sermon.
2. Definition of emblem
The word emblem comes from the latin emblēma, and is defined as an image that embodies, in direct or abstract form, a concept, a set of ideas or an important person, such as a King, Emperor, or religious character.In everyday language, it is common to mix the word symbol with the emblem without that this causes more confusion, however, is of the utmost importance distinguishing emblems are characterized by represent ideas or individuals. The emblems crystallize in Visual terms things which by definition are abstract, as a deity, a nation, a moral truth to political ideologies and of thought. For its part, the symbols are limited to substitute one thing for another, although there are cases in which a symbol also functions as an emblem. For example, the cross in the Christian tradition is a symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus, but it is also an emblem of sacrifice.
The popular fascination with emblems that lasted for about two centuries, is attributed to the publication of 1531, Emblemata of the Italian jurist Andrea Alciato. In this work, the emblems referred to a moralizing combination of text and image, able to immerse the reader in a self-assessment of their own lives.
When an emblem is developed, it is common that this is used as a method of identification. For example, the French revolutionaries used to wear an emblem on his clothes, to identify among them in moments of every day. Similarly, it was common in the middle ages that were identified the Saints with an emblem in paintings, as with the wheel to Santa Catalina or a small bell to San Antonio Abad. European monarchs also adopted emblems for a while to distinguish itself from the rest of the Royal lineage. It was the case of the King Luis XIV in France and Ricardo III in England, among others.
3 Concept of emblem
An emblem is a symbol which represents a figure, while both, usually at the foot of the same is usually write a text or explanatory slogan.The mentioned concept was popular between the 15th and 18th centuries, has an origin Greek, in Greek terms involving what is placed inside or shut failing. In these times it was often found with emblems, enigmatic images that were accompanied by a phrase or legend who helped to decipher the dark moral sense of the image.
Classic emblem is composed of three elements: the figure (usually is incorporated in an engraving, although it can also be embroidered, painted, figure turns out to be crucial when it comes to the moral precept to convey, because you should be able to achieve that it is recorded in the memory of the receiver), the title (sometimes it may be a sentence or in other cases of a sharpness that remains cryptic and almost always written in latin language; their mission is give clues to complete what the image we want to transmit; appears at the top of the figure in question or the engraving inside) and the explanatory text (its purpose is to link that transmits figure and expresses the title; this text usually appears in verse form, using the language of the receiver which was intended for; in addition to describing the figure tries to explain morality that is carrying the same).
Thanks to the success of the emblems developed an own literature, which promoted and brought together different motifs such as emblems: on flora, fauna, classical mythology, history, Biblical situations, among others.
On the other hand the term emblem means the symbolic representation of something, such is the case of the White Dove that is used as an emblem of peace.