Alicja Bielak

The goal of the paper is to present the attribution and codicological analysis of a manuscript currently stored at Biblioteca civica Angelo Mai in Bergamo (sign. MM 378). The paper describes the manuscript codicologically, also hypothesizing as to its presence in the Bergamo library. Based on a manuscript annotation on the codex’s upper pastedown, I argue that it was intended as a gift for one of the Załuski family. On the basis of the printed correspondence between Józef Andrzej Załuski and Angelo Maria Querini, it may be assumed that Codex MM 378 was among the parcels containing manuscripts from the circle of Stanisław Hosius that the Italian librarian intended to send to Załuski. The boxes with the codices never reached the Polish librarian due to the tardiness of the messenger, Jacques David Frédéric Perard. It is claimed here that both the inscriptions and images in the code are authored by Tomasz Treter. The manuscript’s attribution was based on palaeographic analysis (comparing the handwriting with Treter’s epistolography stored in the archives in Kraków and Olsztyn). According to the dates included in the code, the inscriptions were made between 20 June 1569 and 2 March 1575. The manuscript thus represents the earliest known evidence of Treter’s artistic activity. The autograph contains some previously unknown emblems by Treter, and a preliminary design of the emblem work Symbolica vitae Christi meditatio (published 1612). As many as 51 sketches in the manuscript overlap with the emblematic icons of the 1612 printing, all of which are more symbolic (hieroglyphic) representations of Christian virtues known from Treter’s printing, while there are no sketches of icons in the printed book referring to specific biblical scenes. Therefore, there is still uncertainty about the authorship of these compositions, which also differ in the quality of rendition from the previously mentioned ones. Comparing the autograph with the artist’s later published work offers insight into his technique. The drawings in the manuscript show very clear inspiration of Claude Paradin, Gabriel Syméon, Aneau Barthélemy and Andrea Alciato, which is not always conspicuous in the printed version. The analysis includes the final note, mentioning imprese with the painter Lorenzo Lotto, which explains correspondences between this artist’s work and the emblems from Symbolica vitae Christi meditatio.

The aim of this paper is first of all to present graphic sources of Symbolica vitae Christi meditatio by Tomasz Treter in three 16th-century emblematic works from the French and Dutch circles, namely by Junius Hadrianus (Emblemata), Claude Paradin (Devises heroïques), and Aneau Barthélemy (Picta poesis). It also presents an analysis of the composition of Treter’s collection and situates it in the context of emblematic meditations, promoted by Jesuits in the 16th century. Th e following four emblems are analysed in detail: Nativitas, Manifestata veritas, Circumcisio, and Continentia.

They provide both a metacommentary on the role of image in cognition and an illustration of the relationship between pair of emblems throughout whole collection. The first hundred emblems in Treter’s collection are arranged in pairs, in which the fi rst one shows an episode from the life of Christ, while the second one transposes the biblical story into a symbolic language. The quoted fragment of Jesus’ life is each time used to discuss a Christian virtue expressed through an abstract symbol. At the same time, the traditional tripartite construction of the emblem becomes less strict as in Treter’s collection emblems take the form of two icons sharing a single subscription.

This edition and translation of the newly discovered emblem designs by Tomasz Treter (1547–1610) is complementary to Alicja Bielak’s article (this issue) on a manuscript attributed to the Canon of Warmia. Anna Treter’s translation was intended to be faithful to the original in terms of content and style. The edition is based on the manuscript MM 378 from Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai in Bergamo (fol. 9 r.–21 r.). The 25 sketches of emblems to be elaborated on below open Treter’s private notebook, with entries dating from the period between 20 June 1569 and 2 March 1575, as evidenced by the dates inside the codex, which does not exclude the possibility that Treter made corrections and additions after 1575. The notebook includes designs of full-sized emblems with titles, mottos, epigrams and images. Sketches drawn with a quill present a general concept of a composition, without any details (disegni). The title of the notebook was proposed by the editor as the author did not name it. The name written on the spine of the codex (Imprese) is likely to have been supplied later by an unknown person. As far as the themes dealt with in the emblems are concerned, the epigrams are mostly excerpts from the works of Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Augustine and Tertullian, (which was every time cited in the explanatory notes). In the commentary, the sources of graphical inspirations are also traced to Claude Paradin. The other 73 designs from the Bergamo codex, not included in this edition, are sketches of the emblems Symbolica vitae Christi meditatio (Braniewo: Jerzy Schönfels, 1612).