Until the title of the first edition of 1593, Iconologia overo descrittione dell’Imagini universali cavate dall’antichità et da altri luoghi, the work of Ripa is presented to readers as the result of a wide and consolidated antiquarian culture. His fame of reliable catalogue of images lasted during the XVII century and involves not only artists and men of letters, but also ancient statues restorers.
Among the iconology critics of XVIII century Winckelmann pointed out that ancient iconographies were very far from knowing classical finds.
Beginning form these sharp comments, the aim of the volume is to study in detail the relationship between iconology and ancient world, the use of coins, of classical literary sources, of greek and latin masterpieces and to catch a strange paradox: the work contains more references to ancient masterpieces than it seems at a first reading.
By investigating among Ripa’ s sources, it is clear that behind anonymous iconographies many very famous classical masterpieces hide that Ripa does not mention.
The analysis, made on the sources shows that Ripa was neither a scholar of ancient objects neither a collector of antiques, but an encyclopaedist coder of iconographies and a man of XVI century interested in the strenght of symbols.

by Sonia Maffei
Price Euro 130,00

Naples, 2009