Through the wound, and what Petrarch found there

This chapter aims to be an inquiry into the meaning and the value of the images of the wound and of the scar as figurations of the working principle of memorising and remembering. Focusing on the Latin Works of Petrarch (above all Epistolary and Secretum), the chapter shows that the semantic field of the wound interpreted as a mnemonic trace revolves around two conceptual focal points. One of them is the image of the wound which is to be understood as a traumatic event which leaves a mark on someone's body and soul and prompts him to investigate its causes and the solutions to fix it. The other is the image of the scar, which projects the event of the wounding into the past, draws attention to the fact that time has passed, and urges the subject or those who look at the marks on his body to engage in an introspective and analytical process.