#alciato

[Alciato's] dedicatory epigram explicitly announces that these newly-created emblems were fit to adorn hats ('petasis'). There is certainly an allusion here to the contemporary fashion of adorning clothing with emblems and devices, and there is, as well, a metaphoric allusion to the 'covered' nature of emblematic utterance. [...] Alciato alludes to the headgear of the god of eloquence, mercury, whose winged hat and caduceus, [...] formed part of Alciato's own personal device. Mignault, however [...] more plausibly identifies this particular hat as the pileus, the cap of freedom worn by ancient Romans [...] during the Saturnalia: 'the pileus is the symbol of freedom, .... (Manning, The Emblem, p. 223)