Janus. Estudios sobre el Siglo de Oro

The article presents a study of a specific case about the creation of a historical narrative, and the symbolic elements inherent to that narrative. The case is referred to the royal portraits of Felipe II based on two models: Titian's from 1549 and Lucas de Heere from 1553. The introduction takes up the concept of dressing in the Spanish style as a general context of clothing and the institutional narrative of the monarchy that was intended to be transmitted; next, the fashion image created to convey a beautiful gesture of royal majesty is studied. Its background is described by the royal’s portrait of Charles the Fifth and its context about the Trento’s Council are expounded, the creation of an iconic image from the Council ideas, as well as the dissemination of this style created from the political predominancy of the Spanish monarchy. Then the style and details of this clothing and the variations that can be seen in the portrait of Heere, both physiognomic and clothing aspects, are described in order to explain the multiplicity of different portraits been produced. The methodology will be the graphic comparison of portraits of Philip II made in the 1550s (Tiziano’s studio and Heere), which brings information on the generation and dating of families of portraits as well as the incorporation of basic references for the understanding of the historical moment and its relationship with the monarchical narrative.

This article examines a manuscript poem attributed to Elói de Sá Sotomaior, a 17th-century Portuguese writer. It begins with a review of the biography and critical reception of this poet, then moves on to analyse the poem “Ó meu senhor D. Miguel”. This analysis considers the dialogue established with the results of a poetic contest published in Lisbon in 1625, as well as with the anti-Semitic tone that pervades the entire poetic composition. This characteristic is linked to the context of its production and the anti-Jewish literature that proliferated in the early 17th century in the Iberian Peninsula. The article concludes with an edition of the poem.

This article deals with the work of the brilliant gentleman D. Francisco de Portugal, Arte de galantería (1670), linking it to the manuals and treatises of the so-called 'courtly discourse' that were elaborated at the time, for clear recipients who are all those who want to understand and participate in the palace dynamics, and develop courtly sociability. The courtly usages are of necessary transmission, given the importance of behavior and given that behind the exercise of gallantry is, precisely, a game of powers. A game of which D. Francisco de Portugal knows the keys and codes and can teach how to handle the symbolism - the symbolic power - that lies behind every word, every act, every movement.

This study proposes, on the one hand, a palaeographic reading of the ode “Fora conveniente” by Luís de Camões (1524/25-1580), a Portuguese poet whose fifth centenary of his birth is being celebrated in Portugal from 2024 to 2026; and, on the other, to retrace the critical fortune of this poetic composition, from its compilation in the Codex de Luís Franco Correa (Franco, 1589) to its most recent publication by Felipe de Saavedra in Aquileida, a Trilogia de Aquiles, e mais onze odes de Luís de Camões (Camões, 2024b). The case of the ode “Fora conveniente” is exemplary in terms of decisions about the corpus and the inclusion or exclusion of poetic compositions in the so-called “The Complete Works of Luís de Camões” editions. 

In this work, the textual transmission of Jorge de Montemayor’s Diana is studied through the variants of its first printed editions, with special attention to that of Zaragoza, Miguel de Güesa, 1562. The variants are analysed taking also into account their relationship with the textual transmission of the Abencerraje with the aim of offering a new vision on the filiation of early editions of the Diana and the Moorish novel.

Review of: Guicciardini, Francesco: Aforismos, traducción e introducción Emilio Blanco, Oportet: Madrid, 2024.

Review of Il mercato dell’informazione. Notizie vere, false e sensazionali nella Venezia del Cinquecento, in which authors explore how Venice, with its publishing industry and political influence, became a key information hub in the 16th century.