Emblematic Art

The use of emblems has long been part of European Art. With the development of graphic printing such as woodcuts and engravings, emblems became an important tool for artists to reach out to a wider market than merely producing work for a single patron. A precise definition of the term "emblem" is fraught with problems and will not be attempted here, but the essence of what constitutes an emblem surely lies in the image having an associated implicit philosophical, religious, or other idea. Thus an image can be considered as an emblem if one can say that is emblematic of some such idea. In this way an emblematic image must not be solely appreciated on aesthetic grounds but for the way it adequately reflects the idea it emblematises. Taking an example from astrological/astronomical emblems we find figures emblematising the planets.

There are clearly many themes or domains of ideas which have used emblems as a means for developing that subject. Thus we find religious themes, such as, say, the Apocalypse; mysticism, as with the amazing imagery used as emblems in the publication of Jacob Boehme's work; alchemy drew greatly on emblems often linking symbols in odd ways; astrology, of course, is replete with emblematic imagery, as are books of prognostication.



Children of the planets
Seven Deadly Sins


Books of Prognostication
Mystical Emblems