The poetic blazon: a variant of the ekphrasis in the Comedieta of Ponza

Abstract

As auxiliary science to History, Heraldry is not founded, strictly speaking, until the late Middle Ages on the occasion of the strengthening of the language of blazon. Such an event has been recordedi n Little Comedy of Ponza by the Marquis of Santillana. We find three descriptions of coats of arms in its pages, emblazoned according to the heraldic code introduced by Jean Courtois in the early 15th century. However, by adapting the procedure itself to the literary context, Santillana contributed as herald poet to the emergence of a new ekphrastic genre: the poetic blazon. This article will try to locate the references for the nobility badges described in Little Comedy of Ponza and will discuss the ideological and political meaning within the coats of arms as well, in order to interpret them considering the period of upheaval in which the work is framed. In addition, we will analyse the nature of poetic blazon as a sort of ekphrasis and its status as an early manifestation of the doctrine utpicturapoesis, emphasizing how this poetic miniature reflects the stylistic ideals held by the author.