Between describing and drawing: a "transcription error" in the illustration of the monstrificate fanciulle in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Abstract

What does it happen when, in a verbal-visual text, images break free of textual constraints and deliver their own message? In Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Aldo Manuzio’s work dated 1499, the images that have a narrative function are spatially tied up to the text fragment that describes the relevant action. Conversely, images with a descriptive function serve as a graphic summary of the numerous details recorded by the main character. All except one: illustration number 73. It portrays the decorative pattern of a well in the temple of Venus Physizoa. The text’s author describes the image in great detail. Instead the illustrator draws some features, omits others and goes as far as to add a few details on his own initiative. This errand creates a de facto hybrid image: a 2.0 mermaid.