Il trono inciso: il Leviatano e il segreto artificio del potere

The article examines the frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan as a symbolic and juridical device, arguing for its central role in understanding the theory of sovereignty. After retracing the major interpretations of Hobbes’s work – from Schmitt and Bobbio to Bredekamp and Agamben – the study shows that the frontispiece is not a decorative illustration but a complex iconographic construction of political authority. The analysis focuses on anamorphosis as both an optical and legal mechanism: sovereignty appears as an artificial and perspectival effect that transforms the multitude into a unified political body. The paper also engages with biopolitical readings of the image, particularly the significance of the plague doctors, which highlights the relationship between sovereignty, protection, discipline, and the management of life. While recognizing the suggestive power of this reading, the article argues for its incompleteness and proposes instead a renewed juridical and institutional interpretation. Ultimately, the Leviathan emerges as an artificial legal creation and a mechanism of political institution, suggesting new models of power and governance in a global context shaped by ecological, technological, and administrative transformations.