Avtor v svoji študiji analizira ročno slikane embleme z motivom orla in sonca v Spominski knjigi ljubljanske plemiške družbe sv. Dizma (skrajšano: Dizmova kronika), hranjene v Arhivu Republike ...Slovenije (ref. AS 1073, I/1), ki so z ikonografskega vidika skoraj povsem neraziskani. Kratkemu uvodu, v katerem je predstavljena Dizmova kronika kot izvirna oblika emblemske spominske knjige, ki je nastajala v Ljubljani med letoma 1689 in 1801, sledi ikonološka analiza desetih emblemov z motivom orla in sonca (fols. 119r, 161r, 229r, 234r, 238r, 264r, 287r, 294r, 306r, 369r) v kontekstu evropske emblematike. Avtor najprej opozori na ikonografska izhodišča motiva ter opredeli osnovni vsebinski okvir, ki je skupen vsem emblemom z motivom orla in sonca v Dizmovi kroniki. Gre za večinoma kristološko ikonografijo, ki izhaja iz biblijske eksegeze, Fiziologa in srednjeveških bestiarijev, največji razcvet pa doživi prav na področju emblematike v zgodnjem novem veku. Skupno vsebinsko jedro oblikujejo motivi preroda, odrešenja in večnega življenja ter simbolične predstave o sledenju Kristusovemu nauku in odličnosti duha, ki se dviga v nebeške višave. Analiza pokaže, da imajo ključno vlogo motivi, ki izvirajo iz antike, a so v krščanstvu dobili nove, precej bolj kompleksne vsebine: orel, ki nemoteno zre v sonce, orel, ki leti proti soncu, preizkušnja mladih orličev z gledanjem v sonce ter orel, ki uči mladiče leteti.
Raziskava se osredotoča na ikonografsko specifiko vsakega posameznega emblema, v kateri sta razvidna inventivnost naročnikov in njihovo poznavanje evropske tradicije emblemskih knjig. Analiza izbranih emblemov ne razkriva samo njihovega vsebinskega bogastva in kompleksne strukture, različne zglede in neposredne vplive, ampak hkrati celoviteje osvetljuje dejaven pristop naročnikov v procesu njihovega nastajanja, ki doslej v primeru ilustracij v ljubljanski Spominski knjigi ljubljanske plemiške družbe sv. Dizma ni bil deležen ustrezne pozornosti. Ob tem avtor opozarja tudi na vlogo vodilnih miniaturistov Andreja Trosta in Simona Tadeja Volbenka Grahovarja, ki nista bila zgolj iluminatorja, temveč sta aktivno sodelovala pri sami ikonografski zasnovi emblemov, s čimer odpira nov vpogled v dinamiko odnosov med umetnikom in naročnikom.
The article discusses the sources for the iconography of emblems in the Album of the Ljubljana Noble Society of St Dismas (Archive of the Republic of Slovenia, ref. AS 1073, I/1) that has not yet ...been systematically addressed. The Album is a kind of memorial book of the Ljubljana Noble Society of St Dismas or Academia Unitorum, displaying the coats of arms, emblems and important data of their members. The book with exquisite full page illuminations is the most important illuminated manuscript of the Baroque era that survives in Slovenia. Recent research shows, that the idea of the academic memorial book and its concept are modelled on the Memorie, imprese, e ritratti de’ signori Accademici Gelati de Bologna published in Bologna in 1672. Due to the specific context of the Album as a memorial book of St Dismas Society and a clearly articulated ambition of the patrons to create original individualized emblems, it is not easy to identify the possible sources let alone detect the direct influence. There are several emblem books to be taken into consideration and Alciati’s Emblematum liber appears to be a valuable source of inspiration. However, the research in Renaissance and Baroque books of emblems shows that it is actually Mundus Symbolicus by Filippo Picinelli (first published as Mondo simbolico, Milan 1653) which seems to be of vital importance for the creators of the Album. Since the proud members desired original and personalized emblems, it was only natural to rely upon a popular encyclopaedic work with a huge collection of systematically arranged descriptions of emblems. Picinelli’s book is actually a treasure-trove of ideas instigating new designs both in the sense of symbolic message and visual solutions, while the almost complete absence of illustrations prevents a simple reproduction of emblems. Due to their commitment to originality and the respect of the principles of St Dismas Society the members obviously found the traditional emblem books (where they could see prototypes including the picture) somehow less appealing. However, even when they use a traditional emblem book such as Alciati’s Emblematum liber as a model, the authors (both patrons and painters) of the Album exhibit great inventiveness and creativity and never simply reproduce a prototype. The Album thus represent a unique series of original emblems that also indicate the commitment to established tradition and occasionally reveal a direct influence of a popular emblem book as demonstrated in the article.
The triad of decline-metamorphosis-rebirth constantly reappears in the history of civilisation, it is current in all historical periods and cultural environments, in different areas and the most ...diverse contexts. Its manifestations are countless and the same is true of its interpretations. They are especially frequent in the area of art, because the evolutionary model, grounded in the idea of cyclic development comes very handy for explanations and illustrations which seek to present complicated things in a simple and clear way. The history of art, mainly in the 19th century, advocated a tripartite development of art which seeks greater perfection and maturity and reaches its peak just to be then inevitably followed by a decline in artistic originality and power. Already for some time now the evolutionary model has been shown too ineffective in addressing scholarly questions, especially due to oversimplification and a priori classification of subject matter which cannot possibly be classified. The perception that the art of the Early Renaissance was a preliminary period for more mature and accomplished achievements of High Renaissance which at some point began to lose its drive and went into decline either by repeating outmoded forms or their decomposition, is not only naive, but simply wrong and represents a misunderstanding of the essence of art. In much the same way it would be equally wrong to label in advance the early works of a certain artist as not-mature-yet or possessing less artistic authenticity.
The article concentrates on interpreting the Narcissus myth in the oeuvre of Gustave Moreau (1826–1898), a symbolist artist who developed the theme in many paintings and drawings, and in the famous ...Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937, Tate Modern) by Salvador Dalí (1904–1989), which has proved one of the most inspiring and controversial realisations of the myth. A major topic is the relation between the Narcissus myth of symbolism and surrealism on the one hand, and the story of the Boeotian youth as depicted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses on the other. With regard to the works of Gustave Moreau, the study focuses on a new paradigm, which has not been su.ciently investigated, namely the replacement of the traditional image of Narcissus reflected in the pool with a new concept: the concept of reflection as the hero’s introspection. The analysis of Dalí’s much discussed Metamorphosis of Narcissus, on the other hand, tackles the rarely addressed problem of the classical elements employed in this painting.
The article discusses the sources for the iconography of emblems in the Album of the Ljubljana Noble Society of St Dismas (Archive of the Republic of Slovenia, ref. AS 1073, I/1) that has not yet ...been systematically addressed. The Album is a kind of memorial book of the Ljubljana Noble Society of St Dismas or Academia Unitorum, displaying the coats of arms, emblems and important data of their members. The book with exquisite full page illuminations is the most important illuminated manuscript of the Baroque era that survives in Slovenia. Recent research shows, that the idea of the academic memorial book and its concept are modelled on the Memorie, imprese, e ritratti de’ signori Accademici Gelati de Bologna published in Bologna in 1672. Due to the specific context of the Album as a memorial book of St Dismas Society and a clearly articulated ambition of the patrons to create original individualized emblems, it is not easy to identify the possible sources let alone detect the direct influence. There are several emblem books to be taken into consideration and Alciati’s Emblematum liber appears to be a valuable source of inspiration. However, the research in Renaissance and Baroque books of emblems shows that it is actually Mundus Symbolicus by Filippo Picinelli (first published as Mondo simbolico, Milan 1653) which seems to be of vital importance for the creators of the Album. Since the proud members desired original and personalized emblems, it was only natural to rely upon a popular encyclopaedic work with a huge collection of systematically arranged descriptions of emblems. Picinelli’s book is actually a treasure-trove of ideas instigating new designs both in the sense of symbolic message and visual solutions, while the almost complete absence of illustrations prevents a simple reproduction of emblems. Due to their commitment to originality and the respect of the principles of St Dismas Society the members obviously found the traditional emblem books (where they could see prototypes including the picture) somehow less appealing. However, even when they use a traditional emblem book such as Alciati’s Emblematum liber as a model, the authors (both patrons and painters) of the Album exhibit great inventiveness and creativity and never simply reproduce a prototype. The Album thus represent a unique series of original emblems that also indicate the commitment to established tradition and occasionally reveal a direct influence of a popular emblem book as demonstrated in the article.
The triad of decline-metamorphosis-rebirth constantly reappears in the history of civilisation, it is current in all historical periods and cultural environments, in different areas and the most ...diverse contexts. Its manifestations are countless and the same is true of its interpretations. They are especially frequent in the area of art, because the evolutionary model, grounded in the idea of cyclic development comes very handy for explanations and illustrations which seek to present complicated things in a simple and clear way. The history of art, mainly in the 19th century, advocated a tripartite development of art which seeks greater perfection and maturity and reaches its peak just to be then inevitably followed by a decline in artistic originality and power. Already for some time now the evolutionary model has been shown too ineffective in addressing scholarly questions, especially due to oversimplification and a priori classification of subject matter which cannot possibly be classified. The perception that the art of the Early Renaissance was a preliminary period for more mature and accomplished achievements of High Renaissance which at some point began to lose its drive and went into decline either by repeating outmoded forms or their decomposition, is not only naive, but simply wrong and represents a misunderstanding of the essence of art. In much the same way it would be equally wrong to label in advance the early works of a certain artist as not-mature-yet or possessing less artistic authenticity.
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