Emblem 10

Emblem 10

A man seated at a table with a pair of scales and coinsAI-generated

On doibt garder Iustice en toute chose.

One must keep justice in all things.AI-generated

Description of the woodcutAI-generated

A woodcut interior scene. Behind a long cloth-covered table sits a bearded man wearing a soft cap and wide-sleeved robe, framed by a draped curtain or canopy hung between two posts topped with knobs; latticed or cross-hatched window panels appear on either side. On the table in front of him stand a pair of balance scales with two pans, a round bowl or dish, a small flask or vessel, and scattered coins or counters; at the left edge of the table lies a pile of cloth or a cushion. The table rests on a stepped platform or dais in the foreground.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page of emblem 10 — Facsimile of the page (Herzog August Bibliothek); click to enlarge.

TranscriptionAI-generated

DIct d'aduantage vn mottet d'excellence,Cest, que sur tout se doiuent les humainsContregarder de passer la balance,Suyure le poix, iuste, ne plus ne moins.Et qu'ainsi soit, les monarques RomainsFurent heureux soubz le poix de iustice,Mais puis que vint en leur cueur auarice,Et contre droict furent gras & refaictz,Discord ciuil les meit en telle lice,Que de leurs mains mesmes se sont deffaictz.

TranslationAI-generated

Moreover an excellent little saying declares that above all men ought to take care not to tip the balance, but to follow the weight exactly, neither more nor less. And that this is so: the Roman monarchs were fortunate under the weight of justice; but once avarice entered their hearts, and they grew fat and well-fed against right, civil discord set them in such a contest that by their own hands they destroyed themselves.

Iconclass

86(ON DOIBT GARDER IUSTICE EN TOUTE CHOSE) proverbs, sayings, etc. (ON DOIBT GARDER IUSTICE EN TOUTE CHOSE)

41A2 interior of the house

41A711 table

31D16 old man

46B3311 scales

46B3312 weight used on scales

59C21 Equality, Equity, Fairness, Righteousness; 'Equalità', 'Equità', 'Giuditio giusto', 'Ordine dritto e giusto', 'Ugualità' (Ripa)

59C2 Justice; 'Forza alla giustitia sottoposta', 'Giustitia', 'Giustitia retta', 'Giustitia rigorosa', 'Impietà e violenza soggetta alla giustitia' (Ripa)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.

46B511 money-changerhigh

The correlate 'money-changer' matches the seated man behind a cloth-covered table with balance scales, a weighing dish and scattered coins, the standard depiction of a money-changer at his counter.

46B531 bankermedium

The correlate 'banker' fits the same figure seated at a counting table with coins and scales under a canopy, the conventional banker's booth.

46B5120 'Usura' (Ripa)medium

The correlate 'Usura' (Ripa) corresponds to the usury theme drawn from the commentary, embodied here by the man weighing and handling money.

11N34 Covetousness; 'Avaritia' (Ripa) ~ personification of one of the Seven Deadly Sinslow

The correlate 'Covetousness; Avaritia' matches the moral subject of avarice raised in the commentary, though the figure is a trade scene rather than an explicit personification.

46A161 acquiring richeslow

The correlate 'acquiring riches' loosely describes the activity shown of weighing and amassing coins at the table.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.

II v 82 Trutina justius – thematic inventiomedium

The emblem's picture shows a pair of balance scales on a judge's/banker's table and the subscriptio urges men 'de passer la balance... suyure le poix, iuste, ne plus ne moins', which is exactly Erasmus' image of the trutina as the proverbial measure of incorruptible fairness (aequa lance, aequilibrium).

I v 15 Eadem pensari trutina – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus' adage on weighing all by the same scales (loci communes: Justitia) supplies the same metaphor of the balance as the emblem's motto 'On doibt garder Iustice en toute chose' and its injunction to follow the weight exactly, neither more nor less.

II iii 73 Justitia in se virtutem complectitur omnem – thematic inventiomedium

The motto 'justice must be kept in all things' restates the proverbial Theognis/Aristotle line that justice comprehends the whole of virtue; the emblem's 'sur tout' echoes the adage's comprehensive claim for iustitia.

III vi 10 Primum Mars in filiis laudatus est – thematic inventiomedium

The subscriptio's account of the Roman monarchs who were at first fortunate under justice but then 'grew fat' through avarice and destroyed themselves matches Erasmus' adage on the Romans who began vigorous and gradually degenerated into soft and corrupt habits.

IV ii 96 Aequalitas haud parit bellum – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus explains that equality ensures concord while inequality is the mother of discord; the emblem makes precisely this point, showing that when the Romans tipped the balance against right, 'discord ciuil' destroyed them.

II v 36 Ad amussim applica lapidem, non ad lapidem amussim – thematic inventiolow

The adage's lesson that life must be bent to the measuring rule and not the rule to our conduct parallels the emblem's warning not to tip the balance but to follow the exact weight of justice.

I ix 97 Ne moveto lineam – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus glosses the proverb as meaning that laws must not be altered nor prescribed limits overstepped, which is the moral of 'se contregarder de passer la balance' in the emblem's subscriptio.