Pictor in fabula

He said : it seems that they are two causes naturally giving rise to poetry in people. The first cause is that comparison and representation naturally exist in man from the moment he first come forth – I mean, that this activity is found in people even when they are infants. This is something that particularly distinguishes man from the rest of the animals. The cause with respect to this is that man, as distinct from the rest of the animals, is the one who takes pleasure in comparing and representing the things he has perceived by his senses. A sign that man naturally delights and rejoices in making comparisons is that we are pleased and delighted by representations of things that we are not pleased to perceive by our senses, especially when the representation is extremely detailed – as occurs with the painting of many animals executed by skillful painters. Because of this, illustrations are used in instruction and in conversation to foster understanding. Indeed, due to the pleasure existing in illustrations as a result of the imitation in them, they are a tool that tends to produce understanding about the intended object. Through the pleasure the soul takes in them, it becomes more completely receptive to that object. That is, instruction is found to pass naturally from one man to another insofar as there is a relation between the man who is instructing and the man who is being instructed. Now when there are illustrations that are comparisons of objects already perceived by the senses, it is evident that they are used for quickness of understanding and ready acceptance and they produce understanding through the pleasure coming from the imitation in them. This, then, is the first cause that gives rise to poetry.