Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 12
An old man warming himself at the fire and a hot-headed young man with sword and shieldAI-generated
Experience corrige l'homme.
Emblem XII. Experience corrects man.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A woodcut set in a room with a plank floor and hatched walls. At the left an old bearded man in a cap and long gown sits in a tall, panelled high-backed chair, leaning forward with hands raised, as if warming them at the fire place. At the right a younger bearded man with sparks streaming from his head strides or lunges forward, legs wide apart, his right hand raised with a sword, his left arm with a shield.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
POurquoy voit on vn hóme en sa ieunesseEstre hazardeux et chauld plus quil ne fault,Et l'homme d'aage affoibly par vieillesseEst fort craintif & froid en tout assault?La raison est, car le ieune ha deffaultD'experience, & pourtant il luy sembleQue qui le void deuant luy fault quil tremble,Tant se confie en son sens trop hastif,Le vieil ha veu tant de malheur ensemble,Que par raison il doibt estre craintif.
TranslationAI-generated
Why does one see a man in his youth be rash and hot-headed more than he ought, while the man of age, weakened by old age, is very fearful and cold in every assault? The reason is that the young man lacks experience, and therefore it seems to him that whoever sees him before him must tremble, so much does he trust in his over-hasty judgement; the old man has seen so much misfortune all together that with reason he must be fearful.
Iconclass
86(EXPERIENCE CORRIGE L'HOMME)proverbs, sayings, etc. (EXPERIENCE CORRIGE L'HOMME)31D16old man31A235sitting figure41A7212armchair, seat41B211warming oneself at a fire (or hearth, stove, fire-pan, brazier)41B214chimney31D14adult man45C13(SWORD)hacking and thrusting weapons: sword45C19(SHIELD)protective weapons: shield22E13radiating (heat)54DD52Risk; 'Ardire ultimo & necessario' (Ripa)54AA31Inexperience31D5young versus old age; young and old
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- IV v 54 Inscitia confidentiam parit – thematic inventiohigh
The emblem's whole argument — the young man is rash and hot-headed because he 'ha deffault d'experience', while the old man, taught by seen misfortunes, is rightly fearful — reproduces exactly Erasmus's adage 'Ignorance begets overconfidence, prudence begets caution', whose essay states explicitly that 'knowledge makes a man more cautious... that is why the young are more bold than the old.'
- I viii 60 Senesco semper multa addiscens – thematic inventiomedium
The motto 'Experience corrects man' matches the adage's point that 'experience of life and long familiarity with affairs are the way to get wisdom'; the pictured old man instructing with raised finger embodies the accumulated learning of age.
- III ix 57 Aetate prudentiores reddimur – thematic inventiomedium
The subscriptio's contrast between youthful over-hasty judgement and the wisdom gained by one who 'ha veu tant de malheur' is precisely the adage's theme that we no longer approve what pleased us 'in our youthful ignorance' but have grown wiser with experience.
- IV i 83 Iuvenari – thematic inventiomedium
The lunging youth with flaming hair who is 'hazardeux et chauld plus qu'il ne fault' illustrates Erasmus's gloss on iuvenari: acting 'in a boastful, thoughtless, impetuous way' because of ignorance and uncontrolled passions typical of that age.
- V ii 3 Cor calidum in re frigida – thematic inventiolow
The emblem's hot/cold antithesis ('chauld' youth versus the old man 'craintif & froid') echoes the adage's imagery of the hot, precipitate heart set against a cold, hopeless enterprise, with the restraining elder playing Ismene's dissuading role.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem012
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem012
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00025