French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Rolet, Achille Bocchi's Symbolic Questions (Critical Edition [1] and Translation [2])
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Bibliographic reference: Anne ROLET, Achille Bocchi's Symbolic Questions (Symbolicae Quaestiones, 1555). Volume 1: Critical Edition (640p.) Volume 2: Translation, Annotation, and Commentary (976p.), Presses Universitaires François-Rabelais (Tours) / Presses Universitaires de Rennes, "Renaissance" collection, 2015. EAN13: 9782869063808.
Summary
Alongside Alciato's Emblemata (1531), Achille Bocchi's (1488-1562) Symbolicae Quaestiones, published in 1555 and illustrated by Giulio Bonasone, represents one of the most fascinating emblem books of the Renaissance. Their author, a professor at the Studio of Bologna and founder of the Academia Bocchiana, channels in this compendium his passion for myths, symbols, hieroglyphs, allegorical techniques, and, more broadly, the Greco-Roman heritage.
The Bocchian emblem, characterized by uarietas, blends poetry and philosophy. Classical references are reexamined through the lens of humanist debates to serve a deeply original thought, which often reflects religious anxieties and evangelical tendencies. Cicero, Horace, and Plato encounter Hebrew culture; Pythagoras and Socrates walk alongside Saint Paul and Erasmus; and in the engravings, classical models of Greco-Roman art rival Botticelli, Dürer, Raphael, Michelangelo, Nicolò dell'Abate, or Parmigianino.
Supported by dedications to illustrious contemporaries, numerous pieces capture on paper the intellectual practices of a circle of friends bound by emotional and spiritual, as well as political and economic relations, as dictated by the system of patronage in which Renaissance artists operated.
This work offers, for the first time, a critical edition of these emblems, preceded by an extensive introduction (Volume 1) and accompanied for each piece by a rhythmic French translation, notes, and explanatory commentaries to facilitate understanding (Volume 2).
The tradition of the emblem book, inaugurated in the sixteenth century with works like Andrea Alciato's Emblemata, combined woodcut or engraved illustrations with epigrammatic poetry and explanatory prose. These texts drew heavily on classical antiquity, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and medieval allegorical methods to convey moral, philosophical, or theological lessons. Often produced within intellectual networks and humanist academies, emblem books reflect a period when visual and textual arts were closely intertwined, serving as vehicles for erudite play, ethical instruction, and complex political or religious commentary among scholars and patrons.
Readers interested in Renaissance literature, neo-Latin studies, and the history of visual culture may find this scholarly edition relevant to their research.
For the table of contents of both volumes, see: http://lamo.univ-nantes.fr/Les-Questions-Symboliques-d