Le imprese del drago: Politica, emblematica e scienze naturali alla corte di Gregorio XIII (1572-1585).Marco Ruffini. Le imprese Im`prese´n. 1. A device. See Impresa. An imprese, as the Italians call it, is a device in picture with his motto or word, borne by noble or learned personages. - Camden. del drago: Politica, emblematica e scienze naturali alla corte di Gregorio XIII (1572-1585). Europa delle Corti 118. Rome: Bulzoni Editore, 2005. 166 pp. index. illus. map. [euro]15. ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m : 88-7870-065-7. This erudite, intriguing, and stimulating study examines various aspects of the political impresa im·pre·sa n. An emblem or device with a motto. [Italian, undertaking, impresa; see impresario.] in the context of both the literary and artistic milieu during the papal court of Bolognese Pontiff Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni, r. 1572-85) in Rome. The author traces the development of the impresa of the dragon out of the political and cultural trends in Rome during the late sixteenth century. From heraldry heraldry, system in which inherited symbols, or devices, called charges are displayed on a shield, or escutcheon, for the purpose of identifying individuals or families. and poetic writings to scientific and natural reconstructs, the literati literati Scholars in China and Japan whose poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were supposed primarily to reveal their cultivation and express their personal feelings rather than demonstrate professional skill. and academies' intellectuals create a new iconographical genre: iconocrazia, or the study of political emblems. In the year of the post-Tridentine religious and political debate, "the new pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII (January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. Early biography Youth He was born in Bologna, where he studied law and graduated in 1530. , needs to defend himself from the association, indicated in the Holy Scriptures, between the antichristian and the dragon. The Boncompagni family aimed to redefine the symbolic meaning of the dragon represented in his family coat-of-arms" (13). The tome consists of six chapters and an index. Although a bibliography is not included, the footnotes include copious references in support of the text. The first chapter explains the selection of the dragon image as an impresa for the pontiff. Traditionally, the image of the dragon holds a negative connotation: however, in 1562, the Boncompagi family engaged the Bolognese physician and philosopher, Baldassare Pisanelli, to explain scientifically and allegorically the symbolism of the new pontiffs coat-of-arms with the impresa of the dragon. Under this new meaning, the dragon symbolized a good serpent. The dragon had a truncated tail, this pontiffs symbol of a beneficent be·nef·i·cent adj. 1. Characterized by or performing acts of kindness or charity. 2. Producing benefit; beneficial. [Probably from beneficenceon the model of such pairs as dragon, implying a good omen and alluding to the accomplishments of Gregory XIII. Because of his interest in natural phenomena and his association with the Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the Boncompagni family selected Pisanelli to investigate a positive symbolism of the dragon. This reconstruction of the pontiff dragon's symbolism was followed by the poet Torquato Tasso, who composed poems in Gerusalemme conquistata on the good nature of the dragon, and the painter Agostino Carracci, who marked an emblem of the dragon with the inscription "Isomini custodia dracone" (36, fig. 4). In 1588, this propagandistic quest culminated in the publication of Principio Fabrizi's Delle allusioni, imprese et emblemi sopra Gregorio XIII, Pontifice Massimo. Chapter 2 explains the importance and influences of Fabrizi's Delle allusioni on the positive political image of Pope Gregory XIII. It also addresses the intervention of the publisher and editor of Fabrizi's text, Bartolomeo Grassi. The discussion focuses on the various symbols associated with the pontiffs dragon image and on the technical aspects of the creation and reproduction of the dragon impresa. Chapter 3 continues the Cinquecento cin·que·cen·to n. The 16th century, especially in Italian art and literature. [Italian, from (mil) cinquecento, (one thousand) five hundred : cinque, five (from Latin theoretical debate of the signification of the dragon impresa and its application in the religious Counter-Reformation milieu, but concentrates on the miraculous appearance of the drago di fuoco (the dragon of fire) in the sky in 1575 in Rome, and the maleficent ma·lef·i·cent adj. Harmful or evil in intent or effect. Adj. 1. maleficent - harmful or evil in intent or effect infliction of the plague. Conveniently, however, the church and the scientific community initiated a debate regarding the connection of the drago di fuoco and the plague, and the dragon and the comet. The church employed the plague and the comet as a political weapon, a fearful threat against those faithful who believed in astrological and scientific causes. The plague was caused by the sin of superstitious beliefs, while the appearance of the drago di fuoco was a divine sign to protect the faithful. Scientists attempted to explain the event as a natural phenomenon: the drago di fuoco corresponded to a luminous phenomenon generated by asteroids that traveled between the sun and the earth, or a comet. Chapter 4 goes on to investigate the connection of the dragon impresa with the natural phenomenon and, in particular, with the killing of a dragon in Villa di Malavolta in Bologna on 13 May 1573, the day that Boncompagni was elevated to pope. Filippo Sega, a writer and lawyer from Imola, began investigating the natural and supernatural connections of this event. He contacted the naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi to understand the biological and unnatural composition of a dragon, as well as the dragon's positive or negative political symbolism in connection to the Bolognese pope. Chapter 5 focuses on the deletion of the symbolism of the heraldic he·ral·dic adj. Of or relating to heralds or heraldry. he·ral  di·cal·ly adv.Adj. 1. depiction of the dragon in 1586 with the accession of Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (December 13, 1521 – August 27, 1590), born Felice Peretti, was Pope from 1585 to 1590. Biography Peretti was born at Grottammare, in the Marche. . Discussion regarding the political symbolism of the dragon (Gregory XIII) and the lion (Sixtus V) is revealed in the emblems: for example, Prudentia fortitude fortior, an emblem of the lion carrying a dragon around his neck in Fabrizi's Delle allusioni (140, fig. 33). Chapter 6 is an epilogue connecting the symbolism of the lion with that of the dragon, focusing on the interconnection of the emblems, cartography, and numismatics numismatics (n  'mĭzmăt`ĭks, –mĭs–), collection and study of coins, medals, and related objects as works of art and as sources of information. . Thus the dragon of Gregory XIII is a
creature that evolves from the combination of various animals, employing
Aldrovandi's reconstruction of the dragon: the body is from that of
a serpent, its head from that of fish, and its claws from those of a
bird. At the end of the Cinquecento, this hybrid monster is a symbol of
cultural unity. During the governance of Gregory XIII, the impresa of
the dragon expresses the pontiff's desire to maintain his own
cultural, political, and moral identity in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?"midmost of severe political and religious controversies. This book is a worthwhile contribution to the scholarship of political imprese and emblems of sixteenth-century Italian culture. LIANA liana (lēä`nə) or liane (lēän`), name for any climbing plant that roots in the ground. DE GIROLAMI CHENEY University of Massachusetts Lowell UMass Lowell was named the University of Lowell from 1975 to 1991, and was created from the merger of the Lowell Technological Institute and Lowell State College in 1975. These colleges in turn were originally named the Lowell Textile School, founded in 1895 to train technicians and |
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