Re: Hermathena and Cicero
Deborah Taylor-Pearce <dtp <at> she-philosopher.com>
2010-05-05 04:03:59 GMT
Conrad,
Well, it turns out that Pope Julius III was not the only one to
mention Bocchi's "bronze engravings".
Looking again through Elizabeth See Watson's _Achille Bocchi and the
Emblem Book as Symbolic Form_, I found this:
"When did Bocchi conceive of illustrated poems as *symbola*?
Friends outside Bologna received samples of the symbols well
before their publication. In his 1554 _I Romanzi_, Giovanni
Battista Pigna paid tribute to Bocchi's academy and
especially to the Palazzo Bocchi: 'Quegli vna fabrica va
edificando tanto ben compartita, che potrebbe essere da lui
posta tra suoi Simboli per l'essempio d'una perfetta
Academia' (That man is building a structure so well arranged
that it could be placed by him among his symbols as the
example of a perfect academy). Pigna appears to have been
admiring a copy of the 1545 print of the Palazzo Bocchi,
although he may have visited the academy in Bologna as well.
Engraved copies of symbols, perhaps accompanied by a print of
the palazzo, were alluded to even earlier by Lilio Gregorio
Giraldi (1479-1552) in his _De Poetis svorvm temporvm
Dialogvs_, which was written between 1548 and 1551. In the
second dialogue, Bocchi's friend Bartolomeo Ricci speaks as
interlocutor:
"'Quae cum dixissem, sermon em secutus Riccius de poetis,
Achilles, inquit, Bocchius eques Bononiensis in hoc genere
laudis & caeterarum optimarum artium non mediocrem honorem
sibi comparavit, qui in omni hac pene facultate praeclara
documenta dedit superioribus annis, & nunc publice in patria
honeste profitendo, & eius historias conscribendo, simulque
magnificas aedes construens, sibi & Musis symbola conficit,
ex variis cum philosophiae sententiis, tum historiis &
fabulis, quae vario carminum genere exponit, & elegantissime
graphide compingi facit subtilissime in aere adeo, ut his
symbolis illa tria conficiat, quae bonus poeta & orator
efficere debet, hoc est, ut prosit, ut delectet, & in
utramque partem moveat.'
"(And after I had said this, Ricci took up the discussion of
poets and added, 'Achille Bocchi, nobleman of Bologna, has
gained no little recognition in this genre of praise and of
other of the fine arts. In his later years, he has given us
outstanding works in nearly every faculty of knowledge. He
has taught in public and with distinction in his homeland,
has written a history, and is likewise building a magnificent
edifice. And now he has composed a book of symbols for
himself and for the Muses, drawing from varied sources not
only the ideas of philosophy but also historical accounts and
myths, which he sets forth in various poetic forms. He has
had this book of symbols illustrated so elegantly and
precisely with bronze engravings that by these symbols he has
reached the three goals for which every good poet and orator
ought to strive, namely, that his work may be useful, that it
may give delight, and it may move the readers now to
happiness, now to sadness.')"
Perhaps it was commonplace to refer to bronze rather than copper when
writing in Latin during C16? The words for this are quite similar,
even if the metals are not.
William Whittaker's online Latin dictionary at page
http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wordes.exe?copper
gives the following Latin translations for the English COPPER:
---------------------------
aes, aeris N (3rd) N 3 2 N [XXXAO]
money, pay, fee, fare; copper/bronze/brass, base metal; (w/alienum)
debt; gong;
assis, assis N (3rd) M 3 3 M [XLXAO]
penny, copper coin; a pound; one, whole; circular flap/valve; round slice;
as, assis N (3rd) M 3 3 M [XLXAO]
penny, copper coin; a pound; one, whole, unit; circular flap/valve;
round slice;
aenus, aena, aenum ADJ [XXXCO]
copper, of copper (alloy); bronze, made of bronze, bronze-colored; brazen;
aeneus, aenea, aeneum ADJ [XXXCO]
copper, of copper (alloy); bronze, made of bronze, bronze-colored; brazen;
ahenus, ahena, ahenum ADJ [XXXCO]
copper, of copper (alloy); bronze, made of bronze, bronze-colored; brazen;
---------------------------
and returns at page
http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wordes.exe?bronze
similar, but slightly different, translations for BRONZE:
---------------------------
aes, aeris N (3rd) N 3 2 N [XXXAO]
money, pay, fee, fare; copper/bronze/brass, base metal; (w/alienum)
debt; gong;
aheneus, ahenea, aheneum ADJ [XXXCO]
copper, of copper; bronze, made of bronze;
ahenus, ahena, ahenum ADJ [XXXCO]
copper, of copper (alloy); bronze, made of bronze, bronze-colored; brazen;
aeneus, aenea, aeneum ADJ [XXXCO]
copper, of copper (alloy); bronze, made of bronze, bronze-colored; brazen;
aenus, aena, aenum ADJ [XXXCO]
copper, of copper (alloy); bronze, made of bronze, bronze-colored; brazen;
aereus, aerea, aereum ADJ [XXXCO]
made of/bound with/armored with/of the color of copper/bronze/brass;
---------------------------
I should have known that this would not resolve so easily. 
It never does!
I have another colleague in my circle who's very good at Latin -- as
it was written/spoken in Europe from the medieval period through C18
-- and shall ask his opinion next.
Deborah
_____
Deborah Taylor-Pearce
dtp <at> she-philosopher.com
___________________________________________________________________
Use the following address to post a message to all subscribers:
infodesign-cafe <at> list.informationdesign.org
To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your options, visit:
http://list.InformationDesign.org/mailman/listinfo/infodesign-cafe
For all Information Design matters:
http://InformationDesign.org
Problems? Write to:
InfoDesign-Cafe-Admin <at> list.InformationDesign.org
___________________________________________________________________
RSS Feed