This study explores the function of several types of narrative fiction utilized by three of the most distinguished political emblematists of the Hispanic Baroque: Diego Saavedra Fajardo, Andrés Mendo (who borrows liberally from the work of Solórzano Pereira) and the expressly anti-Machiavellian works of Francisco Garau. We consider the rationale behind choosing the emblem as a vehicle to express Counter-reformation political thought and we trace an evolution that leads to one of the books of Garau, which reveals itself to be a highly original work that propagates traditional rhetorical procedures and at the same time it conceals a radical skepticism affecting both the form and content of the work.Keywords: Emblems, Spanish Political Literature, Golden Age Literature, Narrative Fiction

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Desde su nacimiento, derivado directamente de determinadas prácticas editoriales, el libro de emblemas entra en estrecha comunicación con otros impresos ilustrados. Uno de ellos es el libro de fábulas. Este estudio rastrea los presupuestos teóricos de la relación entre la fábula y la imagen simbólica para entender mejor las causas de su progresiva aproximación a la serie emblemática. En un segundo paso se centra en la teorización específicamente barroca sobre la imagen simbólica, atendiendo de manera privilegiada a los textos jesuíticos, tan centrales en este conjunto de ideas. La investigación concluye observando un ejemplo concreto de interinfluencias entre una fábula (la del águila y el escarabajo) y algunas de sus representaciones emblemáticas. The emblem book, from its very inception and deriving directly from certain editorial practices, is closely related to other illustrated book traditions. One of these is the fable book. This study examines the theoretical premises of the relationship between the fable and the symbolic image in order to understand better the causes of their progressive similarity to emblematic illustration. A secondary focus of this study centers on the specifically Baroque theorizing on the symbolic image, with Jesuit texts given a privileged consideration, since they are so central to this nexus of ideas. The study concludes with an analysis of a concrete example of the mutual influences between one fable (that of the eagle and the beetle) and some of its emblematic representations.