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Cesare Ripa and Dirck Pieterszoon Pers: context and contents of the Iconologia

In 1593, Cesare Ripa (c. 1560-1623) published his Iconologia in Italian for the first time. Although one may expect visual images accompanying a text like this, illustrations were absent in this first edition. The book is categorized as an emblem book, or embleemboek (emblemataboek), as it is called in Dutch; a book in which morals and/ or personifications are explained with short texts and images. Ripa’s book turned out to be a great hit and was reprinted several times and in multiple languages. These books, just like the one that is now in the Special Collections of the KNIR, are often decorated with images which explain the short texts that follow them. The book in the KNIR collection is a Dutch translation of Ripa’s text and its full title, as mentioned on the engraved title-page, is Iconologia of Uijtbeeldinghen des Verstants van Cesare Ripa van Perugien: waer in Verscheiden Beeldnissen van Deughden, Ondeughden, Menschlijke Hertztochten, Konsten, Leeringhen: etc en andere ontallijke stoffen, geleerdelijck werden verhandelt (1644). This edition was printed by Jacob Lescaille (1611-1679) in Amsterdam. On the last page of the book, below the bladwyser, a short sentence mentions him as the printer. The engraved title-page is a bit misleading, because here Dirck Pieterszoon Pers (1581-1659) is mentioned twice, even though he is just the translator of this text. Although both men had multiple jobs in the book market; both of them were printer, publisher, and salesmen, but Pers left the printing part for Lescaille.  

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Ripa’s Iconologia is a text which was originally meant for, among others, rhetoricians, poets, painters and sculptors who could consult the work when using virtues and/ or vices or allegories in their art. For his work, he looked back at Greek, Roman and Egyptian allegories and their symbolism and used them as background for his explaining emblems. The subjects are alphabetically ordered and are often linked to Christian morals. The knowledge of the Greek, Roman and Egyptian cultures istransformed into information with a Christian foundation.

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Through translations such as the one by Pers, Ripa’s symbolical and iconographical information made its way to the works of Dutch artists. This does not mean that the genre flourished when this translation arrived. Decades before, authors like P.C. Hooft (1581-1647), Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679) and Jacob Cats (1577-1660) wrote, respectively, famous works like the I (1611), Den gulden winckel (1613) and Sinne- en minnebeelden (1618), in which moral lessons were clarified with text as well as images. 

 

The engraved title-page

As mentioned before, the Dutch translation which is now present at the KNIR starts with an engraved title-page. The title is surrounded by various personifications which are also discussed in the book. For example, lady Imitatione (in Dutch Naevolginge, Naebootsinge) is standing on the right side of the title which is depicted on stone. She is described in Ripa’s text as a woman who holds out paint brushes and a mask (a Momaensicht), and is accompanied by a monkey. The monkey is not present in the engraving on the first page, but is depicted in the woodcut above the textual information. Thus, it is also possible that instead of Imitatione, the arts of Music and the Visual Arts are standing next to the title. This could be explained by the reading audience for which the Iconologia was meant, namely artists and poets in a broader sense. On the other hand, Imitatione would also be a fitting personification on the engraved title-page. Imitation is, according to the translation by Pers, the act of equality. She is depicted with brushes, because, just like a painter, she imitates what is before her. 

 

The materiality of the book: ownership and watermarks  

In the Iconologia, there are multiple marks of ownership. Firstly, there is an Ex Libris on the first modern flyleaf that is glued to the cover. Because of this, we know that this book belonged to A. W. Barten, the director of the Graphic Design vocational school (School voor Grafische Vakken) in Utrecht in the period of 1907-1942. In a magazine called De Tampon, published by the school, J.J. van der Vlies expresses his thanks and feelings concerning the retirement of A.W. Barten. When Barten had passed away, his personal library was auctioned by A.J. van Huffel's Antiquariaat. It is unclear whether the Dutch Ripa translation was also part of this auction. Another mark of ownership is the name F. de Graaff, of whom the signature is written on one of the empty leaves before the engraved title-page. 

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On the modern flyleaves, multiple watermarks are present in the paper. The first is the name of Stolk & Reese in rounded block letters. Stolk & Reese was the name of a papermaker in Rotterdam, founded in the nineteenth century by Jan Jacob van Stolk. Other watermarks are present in the flyleaves that seem older. Both look like watermarks by Van der Ley, but it is not sure whether the paper really is made by this company. Hypothetically, if this paper was made by Van der Ley, the older flyleaves could be made in the province of Holland, around the second half of the seventeenth or eighteenth century.This means that these flyleaves were also not added to the text when it was printed in 1644. More research is necessary to provide a solution for this uncertainty. 

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Written by Evi Mijnster.

 

Title: Iconologia of Uijtbeeldinghen des Verstants van Cesare Ripa van Perugien: waer in Verscheiden Beeldnissen van Deughden, Ondeughden, Menschlijke Hertztochten, Konsten, Leeringhen: etc en andere ontallijke stoffen, geleerdelijck werden verhandelt.

Printed by Jacob Lescaille, in Amsterdam, 1644

4°: *5 A-Llll4 Mmmm2

 

The book:

Pers, Dirck Pieterszoon. Iconologia of Uijtbeeldinghen des Verstants (Amsterdam: Jacob Lescaille, 1644).

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References: 

Churchill, W.A. Watermarks in paper in Holland, England, France, etc. in the XVII and XVIII centuries and their interconnection (Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1935). https://archive.org/details/b31345736/page/n51/mode/2up [Accessed at 23 November 2022].

Curran, C. P. “Ripa Revisited,” An Irish Quarterly Review 126(1943)32: 197-208. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30100555 [Accessed at 23 November 2022]. 

Maser, Edward A. Baroque and Rococo pictorial imagery: the 1758-60 Hertel edition of Ripa's 'Iconologia': with 200 engraved illustrations (New York: Dover Publications, 1971).

J.J. van der Vlies, ‘Het eindsignaal klonk… de laatste ronde is ten einde,’ A.W. Barten-nummer, De tampon; orgaan voor de leerlingen en oud-leerlingen der School voor de Grafische Vakken 6-7(1942)22: 284-286. Delpher: De tampon; orgaan voor de leerlingen en oud-leerlingen der School voor de Grafische Vakken, Utrecht, jrg 22, 1942, Deel: A.W.Barten-nummer, no 6-7, 1942 » 1942-05 - Pag. 42 | Delpher [Accessed at 15 December 2022].

Zijderveld, A. ‘Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia in ons land.’ Oud Holland 3/4(1949)64: 112-128. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42711969 [Accessed at 23 November 2022]. 

 

Websites:

‘Handboek ter beoefening van de boekdrukkunst.’ Website Steven de Joode: Handboek ter beoefening van de boekdrukkunst | The Library of Curiosities (wordpress.com) [Accessed at 15 December 2022]. 

Het Utrechts Archief, Utrecht, 103951, description of a portrait of W.A. Barten, 1907: Beeldmateriaal (hetutrechtsarchief.nl) [Accessed at 23 November 2022]. 

‘Iconologia, of uytbeeldingen des verstands. / By Cesare Ripa; Translated from the Italian by D.P. Pers.’ Short-Title Catalogue Netherlands (STCN): Short Title Catalogue Netherlands (STCN) (oclc.org) [Accessed at 23 November 2022].