To ponder the pathology of power in the early modern era: creativity and intelligence in the political theory and practice reflected in emblems and iconological programes

Political theorists, theologians, jurists, men of letters, spoke during the early modern Era about uses and abuses of authority. Offences, vices and crimes of rulers or ruling elites are subject to consideration, by revisiting, in texts and images, the conduct of the political body and the repercussions in the social body, which tolerates them or cooperates with them. The construction shows itself as particularly creative, along with written works which are the inheritance and update of interpretations on the foundations and mechanisms of power, the emblematic with its symbols and enigmatic messages that also cover those subjects. It is, hereby, covered a fertile field of creativity and fantasy, inspired by ancient and modern sources, which combines inscriptio with pictura and with subscriptio, in a dialectical and intelligent articulation, challenging the reader to seek the senses of the enigma. We are faced with a literature largely spread during the Renaissance, which evolves through successive editions and translations, revisiting texts in prose or verse and recreating engravings according to the geographical and epochal vicissitudes. From Alciato to Ripa, imagery manifests a unique intelligence game.