ICONOGRAPHIC NOTES ON THE ETCHINGS OF JEAN DE COURBES FOR DISCURSOS DE LA NOBLEZA DE ESPAÑA AND HISTORIA DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉRIDA , BY BERNABÉ MORENO DE VARGAS

Abstract

This work uses an iconographic approach to consider the allegorical and symbolic series of etched covers and complementary illustrations of two historical works of scholar Bernabé Moreno de Vargas (c. 1576-1648), Discursos de la nobleza de España (Madrid, 1622), and Historia de la ciudad de Mérida (Madrid, 1633), all of which were created by the French engraver Jean de Courbes. These stamps are not only an illustrative example of the Baroque style of synthesizing the general orientation or content of a work through allusive and symbolic images, they are also testimony to the broad historic and humanistic culture of their author, familiarized with the principal resources and symbolic keys of 17th century culture.