Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 26
Battle of armoured soldiers, with dead and wounded on the groundAI-generated
Presser ne fault par trop son ennemy.
One must not press one's enemy too hard.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A woodcut battle scene enclosed in a thick black frame. A dense mass of armoured soldiers in helmets fight hand to hand with raised swords, daggers and long pikes that cross in the upper part of the field. At left a cluster of helmeted men press forward; at right other armed figures slash with swords and one falls backward. In the foreground several wounded or dead men lie sprawled on the ground, one crawling on hands and knees, another stretched out; a severed head lies in the lower left corner, and a round shield and weapons are scattered on the ground.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
TOy qui te bas à gens forclos d'espoir,Trop entreprendz perilleuse bataille:Car lors qu'ilz sont en instant desespoirLeur corps & vie estiment moins que paille.Tout bõ vainqueur, aux vaincuz chemin baillePour s'enfuyr, sans les vouloir presser:Garde toy donc de trop les oppresser:Car s'il aduient, qu'à les meurtrir t'esbates,Tu les verras contre toy r'adresser,Les yeulx bendez, comme les Andabates.
TranslationAI-generated
You who fight against people shut out from hope, you undertake too perilous a battle: for when they are in the instant of despair they esteem their bodies and lives as less than straw. Every good victor gives the vanquished a path by which to flee, without wishing to press them: guard yourself therefore from oppressing them too much: for if it happens that you take pleasure in slaughtering them, you will see them turn back against you, with their eyes blindfolded, like the Andabatae.
Iconclass
86(PRESSER NE FAULT PAR TROP SON ENNEMY)proverbs, sayings, etc. (PRESSER NE FAULT PAR TROP SON ENNEMY)45Bthe soldier; the soldier's life45C19(SHIELD)(+1)protective weapons: shield (+ during the battle)45C13(SWORD)(+1)hacking and thrusting weapons: sword (+ during the battle)45C14(LANCE)(+1)helved weapons, polearms (for striking, hacking, thrusting): lance (+ during the battle)45H3(+1)battle (+ during the battle)31A3191blindfold56DD11Despair; 'Disperatione' (Ripa)54A8Courage, Bravery, Valiance, Manliness; 'Ardire magnanimo et generoso', 'Gagliardezza', 'Valore', 'Virtù heroica', 'Virtù dell'animo e del corpo' (Ripa)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
45H3battlehighThe correlate text 'battle' directly matches the depicted mass of armoured soldiers fighting hand to hand with swords and pikes amid fallen men.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II iv 33 Andabate – thematic inventiomedium
The subscriptio closes by saying the desperate vanquished will turn back on the victor 'les yeulx bendez, comme les Andabates' — the blindfolded gladiators who are the subject of Erasmus's adage on fighting blindly, in the dark, without seeing one's opponent.
- I i 60 Irritare crabrones – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus's point — that if you provoke a stinging adversary you only rouse it further and 'will not get away without harm' — is exactly the emblem's lesson that over-pressing the enemy makes him turn back on you.
- II iii 40 Ingens telum necessitas – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's doctrine that men 'forclos d'espoir' become most dangerous matches Erasmus's citation of Livy that necessity is the last and greatest weapon, which gives the cornered party the advantage.
- IV iv 1 Phocensium desperatio – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus explains 'Phocian desperation' as the recourse to extreme, all-or-nothing measures when a people is hemmed in without hope — the very condition the emblem warns a victor not to drive his enemy into.
- IV vii 55 Necessitas magistra – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus ends the essay with Curtius' 'Necessitas ignaviam acuit' (necessity sharpens even cowardice), the principle behind the emblem's claim that despairing men count body and life less than straw.
- II v 51 Ne gladium tollas mulier – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus glosses the adage as 'do not threaten or provoke your enemy when, after the provocation, you cannot finish him off', a counsel of prudence in hostility close to the emblem's warning against pressing an enemy too hard.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem026
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem026
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00039