Book Title: Andreae Alciati emblematvm libellvs.

Author: Alciati, Andrea, 1492-1550

Image Title: Ignorance Must Be Banished

Description: The pictura of this emblem by the Italian jurist and writer Andrea Alciato (1492 – 1550 CE) features the Sphinx, a mythological monster that lay in wait on the road to Thebes and killed travelers who could not answer its riddle: What goes on four legs in the morning, two at mid-day, and three at evening? – the answer being “man.” Oedipus destroyed the monster by giving the correct answer. In the subscriptio, the author admonishes the reader to seek wisdom in order to banish ignorance.

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