Jeszcze jeden polski sygnet o emblematyczych koneksjach czyli kilka uwag o znaku firmowym Szymona Kempiniego

Abstrakt

Another Polish printer’s mark of emblematic connections or a few remarks on the Szymon Kempini’s mark

Ever since the first issue of Andreas Alciatus’s Emblematum liber was published, it became one of the richest sources of inspiration for various artists, including printers, who began to use representations of decorating emblems in their marks  The connection between emblems and printers’ marks was substantiated by Andreas Alciatus himself, who, when listing the reasons for publishing the Emblematum liber, quotes the urge to explain Froben’s and Manutius’s marks. While their devices preceded the publication of Alciatus’s work, the marks of the subsequent printers transformed the relation between them and emblems into a two-way relationship. It is interesting that emblematic motifs were used by distinguished printers representing the Antwerp milieu, which in turn were the inspiration for the masters from lesser printing centres. The proof of this relationship is the mark of a printer from Cracow – Szymon Kempini – including the representation of Triton, the same as in Alciatus’s emblem Honour and in the device of a printer from Antwerp – Jan van Waesberghe. The mark of the master from Cracow is also a perfect testimony to the penchant for allegoric and symbolic manner of representing and depicting Polish typography existing from the 16^th century.