Cor castum Dei speculum: Emblematics and the Heart Emblem in Jesuit Literature

Abstract

This study focuses on the characteristic features of the emblems, the emblematic procedure, and the main functions, goals, and significance of the emblem books in the context of Jesuit spirituality and practice. It points out some prominent authors of Jesuit emblem books with a major influence on the development of this form of art in literature and art. It focuses on the heart emblem as a symbol of heart purification and on the artistic manifestations of “religio cordis” (the religious cult of the heart). It introduces one of the most popular books with heart emblems published on the territory of present-day Slovakia in the first half of the seventeenth century, the so-called “heart booklet” of Mátyás Hajnal, a typical sample of Jesuit emblematics devoted to the promotion of Catholic reforms at the time of the Counter-Reformation.