El rostro del imperio. Fisiognomía, estereotipos y temas morales a partir de Effigies virorum bellica y Los discursos de la religión de Guillaume de Choul

Abstract

The Renaissance authors took upon themselves the task of exalting the glories of the most illustriousmen and women of the history. They used to this end the compilations of the life and the heroicdeeds of these distinguished people. These Elogia became the perfect vehicles to reaffirm thephysical and moral aspect throughout their portraits. The moral values of the antiquity, expressedin the classic coinage, and the Christian tradition inherited from the Middle Ages are the principalsources of interpretation. Starting from these premises, the aim of this article is the symbolic andiconographic study of some of the images that illustrate two works preserved in the main library ofthe University of Santiago: Effigia virorum bellica printed in Paris in 1603 and Los Discursos de laReligion (1576) by the French humanist Guillaume de Choul.