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Cesare Ripa (,
Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
) was an
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...
and
iconographer Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...
.


Life

Little is known about his life. The scant biographical information that exists derives from his one very successful work: the ''Iconologia''. He was born of humble origin in Perugia about 1555. The exact date of his birth has never been established. He was very active in academic circles as member of the Filomati and the Intronati in
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
, both dedicated to the study of antiquities and of Greek and Latin literature, and the Insensati in his native Perugia. While still very young he went to Rome to work at the court of Cardinal
Antonio Maria Salviati Antonio Maria Salviati (21 January 1537 – 26 April 1602) was a Florentine Roman Catholic cardinal. Biography Salviati was born in Florence, son of Lorenzo Salviati and Costanza Conti, the nephew of cardinals Bernardo Salviati and Giovanni S ...
. He attended the Accademia degli Incitati the
Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...
, where he probably met the Dominican
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
Ignazio Danti Ignazio (or Egnazio) Danti, O.P. (April 1536 – 10 October 1586), born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer, who served as Bishop of Alatri (1583–1586). ''(in Latin)' ...
, and was introduced into the learned circles of Baroque Rome. Among the friends who are credited in different editions of his ''Iconologia'' with suggestions and even new images are Pietro Leone Casella (c. 1540–c. 1620), whose ''Elogia illustrium artificum'' was published in 1606, Prospero Podiani (c. 1535–1615), and the antiquarian Giovanni Zaratino Castellini (1570–1641). In 1593 Ripa published the first edition of his ''Iconologia''; the work was highly successful, and went through several editions and subsequent translations. Like Vincenzo Cartari’s handbook of mythology, ''Le imagini dei dei de gli antichi'' (Venice, 1556), the book was not originally illustrated. The ''Iconologia'' rapidly became familiar in practically every painter’s or sculptor’s workshop in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. It appears in the book lists of many 17th-century artists, a painter’s bible to set beside
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
’s ''
Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...
'', and provided the raw material for numerous iconographic programmes. In 1598 Ripa was knighted Cavaliere dell' Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro by the Pope
Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...
. He died in Rome on 22 January 1622. Ripa was a close friend of several artists, most notably the brothers Alberti,
Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
,
Alberto Alberto is the Romance languages, Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic languages, Germanic ''Albert (given name), Albert''. It is used in Italian language, Italian, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language, ...
and Cherubino, who used personifications from the 1593 edition of Ripa's ''Iconologia'' in their decorations for the Vatican Sala Clementina (1595–1602).


Work

The ''Iconologia'' was a highly influential
emblem book An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Emblem books are collection ...
based on Egyptian, Greek and Roman emblematical representations, many
personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...
s. Besides ancient Roman sculpture and imperial coins, Ripa's most important source was the ''Hieroglyphica'' (Basel, 1556 ) of Pierio Valeriano. Other sources were
Prudentius Aurelius Prudentius Clemens () was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis (now Northern Spain) in 348.H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Classical Literature'' (1967) p. 508 He probably died in the Iberian Peninsula some ...
' ''Psicomachia'',
Martianus Capella Martianus Minneus Felix Capella () was a jurist, polymath and Latin literature, Latin prose writer of late antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education. He was a native ...
's ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'',
Conrad Gessner Conrad Gessner (; ; 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his talents and supported him t ...
's ''Historia animalium'' and the ''Hieroglyphica'' of
Horapollo Horapollo (from Horus Apollo; ) (5th century?) is the supposed author of a treatise, titled ''Hieroglyphica'', on Egyptian hieroglyphs, extant in a Byzantine Greek language, Greek translation by one Philippus, also dating to 5th century. Life Hora ...
. The book was used by
orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...
s,
artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
s,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
s and "modern Italians" to give substance to qualities such as
virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...
s,
vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
s,
passion Passion, the Passion or the Passions may refer to: Emotion * Passion (emotion), a very strong feeling about a person or thing * Passions (philosophy), emotional states as used in philosophical discussions * Stoic passions, various forms of emotio ...
s,
arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...
and
sciences Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
. The concepts were arranged in alphabetical order, after the fashion of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
. For each there was a verbal description of the
allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...
figure proposed by Ripa to embody the concept, giving the type and color of its clothing and its varied symbolic attributes, along with the reasons why these were chosen, reasons often supported by references to literature (largely classical).


History

The first edition of his ''Iconologia'' was published without illustrations 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 Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
s, dedicated to Lorenzo Salviati.English Translations and Adaptations of Cesare Ripa's ''Iconologia'': From the 17th to the 19th Century by Hans-Joachim Zimmermann
/ref>
Jean Baudoin Jean Baudoin (; 1662–1698) was a French Sulpician priest who served as a missionary in Acadia, and later as a chaplain during military expeditions carried on by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. Life Jean Baudoin studied at the College of Nantes wit ...
translated the ''Iconologia'' into French and published it in Paris in 1636 under the title ''Iconologie''. For the French translation, the Flemish engraver Jacob de Bie turned the prints from Ripa's original book into linear figures inside circular frames, thus turning Ripa's allegories into the reverse side of Roman coins.Olga Vassilieva-Codognet, ''À la recherche des généalogies effigionaires de princes: Series of Retrospective Dynastic Portraits and the Social Implications of True Likeness (Antwerp, ca. 1600)'', p. 102-105 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 Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...
and his followers. Also Dutch painters like
Gerard de Lairesse Gerard or Gérard (de) Lairesse (; 11 September 1641 – June 1711) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. His broad range of skills included music, poetry, and theatre. De Lairesse was influenced by the Perugian Cesare Ripa and ...
,
Willem van Mieris Willem van Mieris (3 June 166226 January 1747) was an 18th-century painter from the Dutch Republic. Biography Willem van Mieris was a painter, sculptor and etcher active in Leiden. He was born in Leiden and studied under his father Frans van M ...
based work on Ripa's emblems.
Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...
used the emblem for the muse
Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; ), also spelled Kleio, Сleio, or Cleo, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre-playing. Etymology Clio's name is derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλείω (meaning ...
for his '' The Art of Painting'', and several others in his '' The Allegory of Faith''. A large part of
Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch playwright, poet, literary translator and writer. He is generally regarded as the greatest writer in the Dutch-language literature, Dutch language as well as an important f ...
's work cannot be understood without this allegorical source, and ornamentation of the Amsterdam
townhall Townhall is an American conservative website, print magazine and radio news service. Katie Pavlich is Editor. Previously published by The Heritage Foundation, it is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. The website features more than ...
by Artus Quellinus, a sculptor, is totally dependent on Ripa. An English translation appeared in 1709 by Pierce Tempest. The baroque painter Antonio Cavallucci drew inspiration for his painting ''Origin of Music'' from the book. In 1779, the Scottish architect George Richardson's ''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'' was published in London. The drawings were by William Hamilton. Several editions of the ''Iconologia'' appeared throughout Europe in XVII and XVIII centuries (Paris, 1636; Amsterdam, 1644, 1657, 1698; Hamburg, 1659; Frankfurt, 1669-70; Augusta, 1704; London, 1709; Nürburg, 1732-34; Delft, 1726, 1743-50), Ripa's work fell out of favor with the rise of
neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...
in the mid-eighteenth century. In his ''Versuch einer Allegorie'', written between 1759 and 1763, Winckelmann harshly criticizes Ripa. “In the whole of the ''Iconologia'' of Cesare Ripa,” snorted Winckelmann, “there are two or three passable allegories.” Winckelmann's attack was effective in the long term, and only recently have scholars rediscovered the seminal importance of Ripa's ''Iconologia''. In the twentieth century (thanks to the studies by emile
Émile Mâle Émile Mâle (; 2 June 1862 – 6 October 1954) was a French art historian, one of the first to study medieval, mostly sacral French art and the influence of Eastern European iconography thereon. He was a member of the Académie française, and ...
,
Ernst Gombrich Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (; ; 30 March 1909 – 3 November 2001) was an Austrian-born art historian who, after settling in England in 1936, became a naturalised British citizen in 1947 and spent most of his working life in the United Ki ...
and
Erwin Panofsky Erwin Panofsky (March 30, 1892 – March 14, 1968) was a German-Jewish art historian whose work represents a high point in the modern academic study of iconography, including his hugely influential ''Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art ...
) the book was evaluated as a fundamental tool to interpret early modern art from both a philological and cultural point of view.


References


Bibliography

* * * *


See also

*
Andrea Alciato Andrea Alciato (8 May 149212 January 1550), commonly known as Alciati (Andreas Alciatus), was an Italian jurist and writer. He is regarded as the founder of the French school of legal humanists. Biography Alciati was born in Alzate Brianza, n ...
*
Pierio Valeriano Bolzani Pierio Valeriano (3 February 147718 June 1558), born Giovanni Pietro dalle Fosse, was an Italian Renaissance humanist, specializing in the early study of Egyptian hieroglyphs. His most famous works were ''On the Ill Fortune of Learned Men (De li ...


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripa, Cesare 1560s births People from Perugia Italian art historians 1620s deaths Year of death unknown Artist authors 16th-century Italian writers 17th-century Italian writers