From Weasels to Ostriches: The Influence of Ancient Egyptian Iconography on the Creation and Development of the Emblematic Genre

Hugh Cullimore

This work supported by a Census x Hertziana x Warburg fellowship is largely related to my PhD, examining how hieroglyphics, predominantly those from the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo, influenced the creation and development of the emblematic genre. My work at the Hertziana has two aspects: first, adding to and editing the ancient Egyptian objects within the Census database and, second, creating a database using the Census’s platform that will map out the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo and demonstrate how knowledge of this text inspired and informed the emblematic genre. This study aims to illustrate just how profound the influence of this text was on the creation and development of the emblematic genre with a key focus on the works of Andrea Alciato, Pierio Valeriano, and Cesare Ripa. The database that I am building will map out each of the hieroglyphics in the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo and determine when these hieroglyphics appeared in the works of Alciato, Valeriano, and Ripa. The final goal of this database is to develop a concise platform that enables researchers to interrogate the Egyptian influences on the emblematic genre and in turn to show how far this influence extended. It therefore will make available an important resource for future research into the use and application of this Egyptian iconography by artists drawing upon emblem books for inspiration behind their own compositions. Individual case studies developed from the database will then form much of the corpus to be examined in my PhD.