Sentence:  Renaissance man thought in terms of <WSD>similitudes</WSD>: the theatre "of" life, the mirror "of" nature. […]/ Aemulation was <WSD>similitude</WSD> within distance: the sky resembled a face because it had “eyes” — the sun and moon. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Similarity or resemblance to something else.