XO48 In Aristotelis libros De caelo et mu[n]do dilucida textus explicatio et disputationes: in quibus illustrium scholarum Auerrois, D. Thomae, Scoti et nominalium sententiae expenditur, earu[m]q[ue] tuendarum probabiliores modi afferunter / auctore P. Bartolomaeo Amico Societatis Jesu theologo; tomus unicus.

Bartolomeo Amico, In Aristotelis libros de caelo et mu[n]do dilucida textus explicatio et disputationes: in quibus illustrium scholarum Auerrois, D. Thomae, Scoti et nominalium sententiae expenditur, earu[m]q[ue] tuendarum probabiliores modi afferuntur (Naples: Secondino Roncaliolo, 1626)

Penn Libraries, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Folio GrC Ar466 T4 1626

This fascinating title page opens the commentary by the Jesuit Bartolomeo Amico (1562-1649) on Aristotle's On the Heavens. Two profiles in medallions are visible at the bottom of this title page, Plato to the left and Aristotle to the right. Plato is identified by the inscription surrounding his profile, “Plato Amicus” (Plato is a friend). Aristotle is identified by the inscription surrounding his profile, “Aristoteles Amicus” (Aristotle is a friend). In between the two is the image of a seated woman who is holding the sun in her right hand, a book in her left hand, and who is resting her right foot on a globe. These are the traditional attributes of the allegory of truth, and in fact, she is identified as “Amica Veritas" (Truth is a friend), referencing the maxim based on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and paraphrased as “Plato is my friend, but truth is a better friend.” The sense of the sentence is that no authority can limit the investigation of the truth, not even Plato or Aristotle, whose philosophies are deemed equally perfectible. Above these images are “Intellectus Agens” (agent intellect) to the right and “Sensus Communis” (common sense) to the left, concepts explored in Aristotle’s On the Soul. Common sense - which is possessed by men and beasts alike - is effectively depicted as a satyr, maybe the god Pan, who is half goat and half man. The satyr is opening his chest to reveal plants below the heavens, referencing the sublunar natural world, which is open to man's experience and perception. Agent intellect, the immortal part of our soul, is represented as a crowned king next to an eagle, a symbol of supremacy and divine authority. The king holds in his hand an image reproducing the same world revealed in the satyr's chest. This is a reference to the abstractive function of the intellect, which elevates the perception of the senses. Above common sense are depicted in tiny medallions two interpreters of Aristotle, Averroes and Thomas Aquinas, while above the Agent intellect are Duns Scotus and William of Ockham, two fourteenth-century philosophers. These four authors are the ones listed in the work's title by Amico. At the top is an allegory of Prudence, holding a globe (usually accompanying Justice and not Prudence), a mirror (alluding to self-knowledge, or to wisdom with reference to Sap. 8, 26 ), and a snake (an allusion to the Gospel of Matthew 10, 16: "be as shrewd as snakes"), surrounded by armed putti.

Marcus Papandrea