Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 21
A man holding up a sword smeared with honey, surrounded by fliesAI-generated
Contre les Hypocrites.
Emblem XXI. Against hypocrites.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A woodcut in a rectangular frame showing a landscape with low hills and a few rocks. In the centre a bearded man in a doublet and hose stands with legs astride, his right arm raised holding a long sword upright, which he grasps also near the blade with his left hand. All around him, filling the sky and the field, swarm numerous bees or flies with outspread wings.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Qvi porte espee estant oingte de miel,Monstre qu'il est du rang des hipocrites,Qui soubz doulceur, tiennent caché leur fiel:En euidence vn iour seront reduictesLeurs faulcetez, & cautelles mauldictes:Car tel verra, qui oncques n'a eu veue.Leur espee est bien trenchante & ague,Qu'ilz ont voulu en ce point de miel oingdre,Ce nonobstant, vne mouche menue,Ne lairra point à les asprement poindre.
TranslationAI-generated
He who carries a sword that is anointed with honey shows that he belongs to the ranks of the hypocrites, who under sweetness keep their bitterness hidden: one day their falsehoods and cursed cunning tricks will be brought to light; for such a man will see, who never had sight. Their sword is well sharp and keen, which they have chosen at this point to anoint with honey; nevertheless, a tiny fly will not fail to sting them sharply.
Iconclass
86(CONTRE LES HYPOCRITES)proverbs, sayings, etc. (CONTRE LES HYPOCRITES)31D14adult man45C13(SWORD)hacking and thrusting weapons: sword41C636honey25F711(FLY)insects: fly34D31fly extermination57AA61Dishonesty, Falsety57AA611Dissimulation, Hypocrisy; 'Hippocresia', 'Simulatione' (Ripa)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
51CC19No Result, Lack of Result, Inefficacy, FutilityhighThe correlate 'No Result, Lack of Result, Inefficacy, Futility' exactly matches the emblem's point of a man vainly brandishing a sword against a swarm of flies.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.mediumThe image illustrates a proverbial saying ('Hercules against the flies'), so the general category of proverbs and sayings applies.
94L7specific aspects, allegorical aspects of Hercules; Hercules as patronlowIf the commentary invokes the adage 'Hercules contra muscas', the scene belongs to the allegorical/specific aspects of Hercules, though the figure lacks the usual club and lion skin.
51H3MultitudelowThe correlate 'Multitude' could cover the innumerable swarm of insects filling sky and field, which is central to the emblem's meaning.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I viii 57 Melle litus gladius – direct mottohigh
The emblem's subscriptio and picture literally render the adage: 'Qvi porte espee estant oingte de miel' — a sword smeared with honey — and applies it, as Erasmus does, to harmful flattery/dissimulation, here 'contre les hypocrites' who hide their gall under sweetness.
- III v 7 Habet et musca splenem – thematic inventiolow
The closing line, that even 'vne mouche menue' will sting the hypocrites sharply (echoed by the swarm of flies/bees in the woodcut), corresponds to the proverbial point that even a tiny fly has gall and can retaliate.
- I vi 62 Neque mel neque apes – thematic inventiolow
The pairing of honey with stinging bees/flies swarming round the smeared sword plays on the commonplace that honey never comes without stings, the point of Erasmus's adage.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem021
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem021
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00034