Emblemata Sacra

This volume includes the late Elisabeth Stopp's previously unpublished study of La vie symbolique du bienheureux François de Sales (1664) of Adrien Gambart (1660-68), an introductory essay by Agnès Guiderdoni-Bruslé that updates and amplifies Stopp's work, and a facsimile of Gambart's emblem book. This remarkable book was inspired by the life and writings of St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), and written for the Sisters of the Visitation monastery of Faubourg Saint-Jacques in Paris, where Gambart, a Vincentian priest, served as chaplain for over thirty years. It was published in preparation for Francis's canonization in 1665. Gambart's emblems visualize many of the literary images that Francis employs in his writings, as well as draws on other popular sources of the emblematic tradition. By means of the emblems, Gambart seeks to identify in a tangible and memorable way the truly remarkable qualities of Francis's life and the exceptional elements of Salesian spirituality. Such a method, Gambart avers, is in keeping with Francis's own profuse use of images and symbols to communicate his spiritual doctrine as concretely and clearly as possible. Each emblem invites the reader to reflect