Inscriptio, Pictura, and Subscriptio

Spanish Golden Age emblem literature would not be what it is without two other components that morph the words into an art form.  The three parts of the Spanish Golden Age emblems make for a fulfilling whole when motto, plate, and poem coincide.

Moreover, emblems involve an active participation of the reader/viewer.  It’s not as if Golden Age emblems require study, rather, you read, view, luxuriate in them as you dismiss potential interpretations until you see the connectives, and this can result in utter satisfaction. 

“At the precise moment when the predetermined meaning is fully comprehended,” as John T. Cull writes in Hispania, Volume 75, Number 1, “It is the joy of the hunt, or the pleasure of working through the enigma, which yields aesthetic pleasure.  To this end, word and image work hand in hand.”

Inscriptio, Pictura, and Subscriptio

Sheila Cull

Twin Cull ©