Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 17
A man with a staff beside a pig rooting in the dirtAI-generated
Vertu mesprisee designorantz.
Virtue despised by the ignorant.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A rectangular woodcut. In the foreground at the right a large pig (sow) kneels or roots in the ground, its snout down in the dirt. At the left a man in a hooded cap and short tunic bends forward, holding a long staff or pitchfork/shovel in both hands, apparently driving or feeding the pig. Behind them is a large slanting wickerwork panel or hurdle leaning against a wall, with a hatched masonry structure at the right; in the left background a small house with a roof and a hedge, under a sky with light clouds.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
ENtre pourceaulx l'ordure & la fiente,Plus est en pris que Baulme precieulx:Et entre aucuns, une chose meschante,Est exaulcee au dessus des neuf cieulx.Vn idiot, infame, vicieux,N'estime rien bonne literature,Car il hayt gens scauans, de nature.Et n'ayme rien, que se veaultrer en fange.Tant que Pourceaux aymeront la pasture,Les gens lettrez auront temps fort estrange.
TranslationAI-generated
Among pigs, filth and dung are held in higher esteem than precious balm; and among certain people, a wicked thing is exalted above the nine heavens. An idiot, infamous and vicious, values good letters not at all, for by nature he hates learned men, and loves nothing but to wallow in the mire. As long as pigs love their fodder, lettered men will have a very strange time of it.
Iconclass
86(VERTU MESPRISEE DESIGNORANTZ)proverbs, sayings, etc. (VERTU MESPRISEE DESIGNORANTZ)47I2271stall, stable47I21211(+9536)hog (castrated male pig) (+ lying animal)31D14adult man41A773container of ceramics: jar, jug, pot, vase41C122pouring52AA55Bluntness, Obtuseness, Dullness57BB1Disapprobation, Disapproval, Rebuking52A51Wisdom; 'Sapienza', 'Sapienza humana', 'Sapienza vera' (Ripa)
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I iv 38 Nihil cum amaracino sui – thematic inventiohigh
The emblem's core image — the sow that prefers dung and mire to 'Baulme precieulx' — is exactly Erasmus's adage (from Gellius' preface and Lucretius, 'amaracinum fugitat sus'), applied as there to boors who have no use for literature and learning.
- IV x 64 Asinus asino et sus sui pulcer – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus' adage that pig delights in pig and like in like shares the emblem's point that base natures (the ignorant, figured as swine) esteem only what matches their own baseness, exalting a 'chose meschante' and hating the learned.
- I ii 15 Suum cuique pulchrum – thematic inventiolow
The subscriptio's claim that among swine dung outranks balm, and among certain men a wicked thing is exalted, illustrates the adage's principle that each creature judges its own as finest, blinded by self-love rather than judgement.
- IV viii 38 Asinus stramenta mavult quam aurum – thematic inventiohigh
Erasmus' essay argues that beasts prefer fodder to gold and cites the cock who spurned the gem on the dunghill, concluding that slaves to the belly prefer drunken revelry to all liberal disciplines — exactly the emblem's point that swine prize dung above precious balm and ignorant men despise 'bonne literature'.
- II v 58 Asinus in paleas – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus applies this adage to the illiterate barbarian who befouls a good author with his glosses, adding that the ass rejoices in wallowing and confounds everything — close to the emblem's wallowing swine standing for the unlettered enemy of good letters.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem017
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem017
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00030