Images of Proverbs. Intermedial Code-Switching in Italian Illustrations of Proverbs
Images of Proverbs. Intermedial Code-Switching in Italian Illustrations of Proverbs

Summary/Abstract: The artistic productions of Niccolò Nelli (1533–1575), Agostino Carracci (1557–1602), Giuseppe Maria Mitelli (1634–1718), and Giuseppe Piattoli (1743–1823) exemplify combinations of textual and visual sources that perfectly represent intermedial code-switching. The four artists authored collections of illustrated proverbs that they either realized in isolation or included in comic strips and in more organized collections. The expressions in the works of Nelli, Carracci, Mitelli, and Piattoli were selected for their rhetorical structure, pedagogical intent, and social reception. These authors then merged their written texts with visual symbols and allegories that could appeal to the larger public, thus making their meaning more accessible. Such representations guided the readers visually and allowed them to undergo an ethical experience through the symbiotic association of iconic value and moral message.

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