Before outlining the way in which we are using the computer to help process European emblems, I should explain what emblems are, and why we are subjecting them to this electronic scrutiny. An emblem is a combination of text and graphics; more precisely, a tripartite structure introduced by a motto, followed by a symbolic picture, and elucidated by an epigram in verse, or occasionally by a prose statement. The impresa works in the same way but comprises solely a motto and picture. Each emblem makes a self-contained statement about a specific subject, usually identified briefly, even elliptically, in the motto. That subject is then bodied forth pictorially with its symbolic clusters of images; it is further described, elucidated and interpreted in the concluding epigram. The emblem is thus as much a symbolic mode of thought as it is an artistic form combining graphics and texts. We now recognize it as an important expression of the culture life of the Renaissance and the Baroque, reflecting interests as divergent as love and war, religion, ethics and politics, social customs and foibles, humanistic knowledge and pure entertainment.