An impresa is a type of emblem that is dedicated to a specific person. An impresa usually speaks to a specific aspect of that person, be it their official role (such as a monarch) or an aspect of their personality. The three components of an impresa are the motto, or title, the illustration, and the person to whom it is dedicated. The full meaning of the impresa is not complete without all of these elements. Typically the elements in the illustration present a very broad idea, open to many different interpretations. It is the motto and the verse below that focus the message of the impresa to pertain the specific person. Imprese can have many different uses, they can be an emblem of thanks to a significant person in the author's life, they can be a dedication to a deceased person, or, as is often the case for Peacham, they can serve as a dedication to a patron or a monarch. Through an impresa, the emblem author is able to teach a specific lesson or idea from that person's life. The person is, in fact, living proof of a virtue or a moral. Imprese can range from being very personal and intimate, to very broad and general, as is often the case when dedicated to kings and queens. In his Minerva Britanna, Henry Peacham incorporates a few different types of imprese as discussed here.
Peacham borrowed imprese from many sources for Minerva Britannica. Scholar Mason Tung has identified thirty-two imprese in Peacham's book, coming from collections of devises and other emblem books by Paradin, Giovo, Ruscelli, Camelli, Contole, and Capaccio. In addition, Peacham also included three devises that belonged to English nobles and hand not appeared in a previous book.
Peacham used the devices he selected in three different ways. Sometimes he merely explained the device and its relation to its bearer, leaving the meaning unchanged, although he frequently altered the image. This occurred in emblems 17, 31, 66, 77, 162, and 164.
In other cases, he used the image of the imprese as an emblem, ignoring the personal associations. This occurred with emblems 43, 77, 116 and 160, where he adapted a section from James the First's Basilicon Doron for use as the moral of the emblem, and emblems 28, 60, 71, 88 and 122, where Peacham himself invented the moral.
At other times, the adapted imprese were hybridized; that is, the image was modified and the meaning was generalized. The emblems were given personal significance, but Peacham assigned this meaning not to the original bearers but to other individuals that he selected. The original meaning of the devise was ignored. This hybridization was used for emblems 33 and 73.
Below is a list of all the imprese included in Henry Peacham's Minerva Britanna:
14 - Fatum subscribat Eliza.
16 - Unita valibunt
17 - Par Achillis, Puer une vinces
27 - Sine refluxa
28 - His altiora
31 - Protegere Regium
32 - Dies et ingenium
33 - Labor viris convenit
42 - Tanto clarior
43 - Proemio et poena
44 - Qua pondere maior
52 - Undiq flamma
54 - In actione consistit
56 - Candor immunis erit
60 - Ni undus ni vientos
66 - Allah vere - Deus dabit
67 - Nec te quaesiviris extra
68 - Fit purior haustu
71 - Patientia laesa furorem
72 - Te aspicit unam
73 - Maior Hercule
77 - Cum severitate lenitus
88 - Paulatim
94 - Servire nescit
106 - Non invita recedo
113 - Sic nos Dij
114 - Per nulla figura doleri
122 - Gloria latavia
160 - Ira principum: Quocung ferar
162 - Pro regno et religione
163 - Non nubila tangant
164 - Ordo
180 - Sorte, aut Labore
