Emblem 20

Emblem 20

Blindfolded winged Fortune with a sail leading a blindfolded man by the handAI-generated

Cestuy est fol qui se conduict par Fortune.

He is a fool who lets himself be guided by Fortune.AI-generated

Description of the woodcutAI-generated

A woodcut in a rectangular frame. At the left stands a nude winged female figure with a band over her eyes, her left arm raised holding a billowing sail or cloth that swells behind her like a veil. With her right hand she takes the hand of a bearded man at the right, who wears a cap and a long cloak and whose eyes are also covered; he walks forward with a long staff or pilgrim's stick in his hand. They stand on a rocky, broken shoreline with boulders and clumps of ground; behind, at the right, is open water with a small sailing boat and a distant coastline under a lightly hatched sky. The number 'XX' appears in the upper right corner of the frame.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page of emblem 20 — Facsimile of the page (Herzog August Bibliothek); click to enlarge.

TranscriptionAI-generated

GEns aueuglez, mal conduictz par Fortune,Considerez qu'elle ha les yeulx bendez:Non plus que vous, ny void Soleil ne Lune.Ie ne scay pas comment vous l'entendez:A quoy tient il, que ne vous debendez?Si verrez bien comme mal vous pourmeine,Et le pertuys ou tresbucher vous meine,Gouffre de maulx, & de calamité:Quand penserez auoir or, & domaine,Lors vous verrez en grande extremité.

TranslationAI-generated

Blinded people, badly led by Fortune, consider that she has her eyes bandaged: no more than you does she see sun or moon. I do not know how you understand this: what is stopping you from unbandaging yourselves? Then you will see clearly how badly she leads you about, and the pit into which she brings you to stumble, a gulf of evils and of calamity: when you think you have gold and estates, then you will find yourselves in great extremity.

Iconclass

86(CESTUY EST FOL QUI SE CONDUICT PAR FORTUNE) proverbs, sayings, etc. (CESTUY EST FOL QUI SE CONDUICT PAR FORTUNE)

54F12(+111) Luck, Fortune, Lot; 'Fato', 'Fortuna', 'Fortuna aurea', 'Fortuna buona', 'Fortuna pacifica overo clemente', 'Sorte' (Ripa) (+ nude)

31AA4111 blind, blindness - AA - metaphorically blind

31A3191 blindfold

31A25432 leading someone by the hand or wrist

31D14 adult man

41D263 walking-stick, staff, cane

25H115 pit, hole

56B22 Short Felicity; 'Felicità breve' (Ripa)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

54F12 Luck, Fortune, Lot; 'Fato', 'Fortuna', 'Fortuna aurea', 'Fortuna buona', 'Fortuna pacifica overo clemente', 'Sorte' (Ripa)high

The nude winged, blindfolded female with a billowing sail/veil is the standard personification of Fortune/Fortuna, matching 'Luck, Fortune, Lot'.

31AA3191 blindfold - AA - female human figurehigh

The female figure (Fortune) has a band over her eyes, matching 'blindfold - female human figure'.

31A3191 blindfoldhigh

The bearded man led by the hand also has his eyes covered, matching the general 'blindfold' correlate.

46C24111 sailmedium

The raised, billowing sail/cloth held by the winged figure corresponds to the object 'sail'.

46C24 sailing-ship, sailing-boatmedium

A small sailing boat is shown on the open water in the background, matching 'sailing-ship, sailing-boat'.

96A5(FORTUNA) Fortuna as Roman personificationlow

The figure could be read as the Roman goddess Fortuna personified, though the emblematic (Ripa-type) reading under 54F12 is more apt.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I viii 40 Caecus caeco dux – thematic inventiomedium

The woodcut literally shows a blindfolded Fortune taking by the hand and leading a blindfolded, staff-bearing man over broken ground towards a pit — the visual commonplace of the blind leading the blind, with the warning that both will fall into a 'gouffre de maulx'.

III iii 78 Neque caecum ducem neque amentem consultorem – thematic inventiomedium

The motto's moral — that it is folly to let oneself be guided by Fortune, who has her eyes bandaged — is precisely the adage's precept not to take a blind guide; the subscriptio urges the viewer to unbandage his eyes rather than follow her.