From image to icon

Abstract

In the essay, the author investigates the value of the image and the relationship between Petrarch's writing and figurative arts. The fundamental texts are the two sonnets of Laura's portrait by Simone Martini (RVF 77 and 78) and the sonnet "della Verónica" (RVF 16). The analysis of the texts shows more how the central point of Petrarch's meditation is the transformation of the idol into an icon through a process of "spiritual visualization" of the concrete image that has its significant example in Veronica, the "true image" of the Holy Face.