Alciato's Emblemata and Its Relation with a Socio-historical Method and an Art of Memory in Renaissance Jurisprudence

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The purpose or this research is to show that Alciato's Emblemata is heavily indebted to Renaissance Roman jurisprudence. I.The emblematic form has often been associated with Neo-Platenic way to represent idealistic meaning hidden in earthly things. A large number of emblem writers, however, turned out to be versed in Renaissance Roman jurisprudence. Alciato is no exception. A close reading of Alciato's legal works and his contemporary juristic resources shows that they are more concerned with practical daily matters than sublime metaphysical objects, the major concern of Neo-Platonism. 2. Popular mystical art of memory, a vulgate Neo-Platonistic theory in Alciato's period, shares with Emblemata the same representative form of a combination of a picture with a verse. This superficial common form does not guarantee that these two literature possess the same intent to moralize their readers into realization of the universal truth. Actually, most books on the art of memory have in scope the universal hidden in historical matters, while Emblemata sustains readers1 attention to settlement of particular daily matters into reconcilement. 8. The emblematic form should be related to that of Renaissance legal compendia and supplementary referential works for the students of law. In addition to sharing the similar form with the emblem literature, they used to be favorite tools for the scholars to keep in memory the legal texts and their number of chapters and verses. 4. One of the most appropriate ways of reading Emblemata is to read it with reference to legal matters. Emblemata should be reread from the standpoint of how to resolve socially disputed cases into judicially balanced settlement.