De Zeventiende Eeuw. Jaargang 11

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George Richardson and the ‘fame’ of Ripa's Iconologia
Karl-Ludwig Selig

Prologue

My interest in Ripa's Iconologia and in emblematic texts spans many decades. In 1951 I discovered a Spanish translation of Ripa (Italica, 28, 1951). My interest in Gracián and emblematic texts led me to study and analyze the library of Lastanosa, Gracián's patron. Lastanosa also wrote a treatise on numismatics. This alerted me to the importance of an ancillary field and area and I published several articles, particularly on Góngora and numismatics, in MLN, 1955-1956. This prologue may serve then as a critical premise and postulate for the brief remarks which follow.

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George Richardson's Iconology or a Collection of Emblematic Figures containing 424 Remarkable Subjects, Moral and Instructive, London, 1779 is a remarkable book in many ways. It contains a list of subscribers and is dedicated to his Majesty George III. The two folio pages represent a micro-text, a ‘tranche’ of activities - social, political, intellectual, artistic. It alludes to many lives, implied biographies. It encompasses a period and a group and many and multiple and variegated activities. Usually I prefer to do textual analysis and usually I am not a quantifier, but in this instance I will try to break down and ‘anatomize’ the list. The list of subscribers, in addition to political and social personages, enumerates in alphabetical order (more or less) 18 Painters (e.g., Reynolds, Romney, West, Penny), 24 Architects, 12 Engravers (e.g., Bartolozzi), but also Barnard, the Royal Librarian, 18 Booksellers of a wide geographical range, 3 Print-Sellers, 9 Sculptors, 6 Builders, 3 Surveyors, 4 Cabinet-Makers including Chippendale, a Japanner (Clay), 4-5 Plaisterers, 2 Carvers, a Modeller, 2 Masons - one a Master-Mason, a Porcelan Manufacturer (this is indeed quite important for the history of taste), an Antiquarian and Keeper of Designs and Medals, a Goldsmith, a Watch-Maker and a Coach-Maker.

While certainly and definitely taking into account the matter of personal obligation and patronage - the list is after all in its own way an advertisement - it is nevertheless an interesting tribute to Ripa and offers some possible methodological lessons, implications and suggestions for further study and research. Physically and emblematically the list represents a focal point. It suggests the importance of ancillary and related fields and the wide range of activities mentioned reaches out to a variety of artistic spheres and endeavors. I will try to mention just a few: patronage, discipleship, group(s), the concept of a generation, exhibitions, the studio; I repeat the importance to be paid to the minor arts - coins, numismatics, por-

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celan; craftsmanship, the importance of the library and the function of the bookseller, the institution of the Academy, Englishness vs cosmopolitanism, the movement and migration of texts and artists, such as Flemish, French and Italian artists to England - in a text of Italian origin published in 18th century England.

But caution is also necessary and in order. The list poses a number of other problems. The list - as a text - informs a certain inclusivity and also a certain exclusivity. In taking into account Richardson's biography, his intellectual and artistic biography, his various and variegated activities, his connections, relation to and circle in a social and political milieu and context, one wonders why the text does not address itself and inform an interest in poets and writers and therefore by implication the importance and the possibilities of the Iconology for the articulation of the visual and pictorialization and ‘ekphrasis’ in verbal and literary texts.

What I have stated so far has, however, to be considered also with a decided sense of discrimination. One must be careful and observe a certain restraint and be careful and cautious with the use of hyperbole. One must be careful when dealing with the language and rhetoric of an advertisement.

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Epilogue

In 1952 I published a note on Cesare Ripa (Italica, 29: 1952). The article dealt with an advertisement included in the 1630 edition of the Iconologia, which refers to the fact that the ornaments at the canonization of Saint Isidore of Madrid in Rome in 1622 were based on figures from the Iconologia.