The City of Porto will host the Sociedad Española de Emblemática XIII International Conference, inspired by Seneca’s maxim: IGNORANTI QUEM PORTUM PETAT, NULLUS SUUS VENTUS EST[‘If one does not know to what port they are steering, no wind is favourable’] (Seneca, Letters, 71, 3), ‘emblematic combined’ with the female personification of Air, represented in the central azulejo [tiles] panel in the cloister of Porto Cathedral (attributed to António Vital Rifarto).

Under the auspices of ‘good winds’ conducting to this safe port, the SEE invites the scientific community to submit innovative contributions to the field of text and image culture, in general, and emblem studies, in particular—from a wide and interdisciplinary perspective. Departing from this holistic vision, the conference aims at stimulating new perspectives towards the study of images and emblematic literature, that can be extended to the Portuguese reality. We therefore call for a wide range of thematic contributions.