Epitalamios e himeneos. Iconografía y literatura nupcial en las cortes del Barroco.

Abstract

This study deals, from a general point of view, with the texts and images present in some epithalamium and hymen lyrics: poetic compositions written in the 16th and 17th centuries in European courts on the occasion of the arranged marriages between members of the royal families. The emblematic and symbolic images are of great interest for Art History, because they take inspiration from the emblem books of the period and develop the customary topoi of marriage literature. However, the most significant aspects are the political messages they divulge, basically the political benefits to be derived from these dynastic unions.