Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 33
A man trying to split a rock with a razorAI-generated
N'entreprendz rien contre plus fort que toy.
Undertake nothing against one stronger than yourself.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A woodcut in a rectangular frame. In a rocky open landscape a lean, bearded man, nearly naked with only a cloth about his loins, kneels on one knee at the right and leans forward, gripping with both hands a long open razor (barber's blade) which he drives against the face of a huge boulder or rocky outcrop that fills the right half of the scene. Behind him at the left are low hills, a distant building, and a sky filled with horizontal hatched clouds. The monogram of the blockcutter appears in the upper right corner.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Qvi d'vn rasouer la roche cuyde fendre,N'auance rien, fors que perdre son tëps:Et le filet du rasouer fin & tendre:Gaste du tout en maigre passetemps.Sur ce notons, que noyses, ou contendzNe fault auoir, à gens plus fors que nous.Le rasouer a le taillant mol & doulx,La roche est dure, & forte à l'aduantage.Contre plus fors (comme sçauent bien tous)Lon prend debat, à son tresgrand dommage.
TranslationAI-generated
He who thinks to split the rock with a razor gains nothing but the loss of his time: and the fine and delicate edge of the razor he utterly ruins in a meagre pastime. From this let us note that we must not have quarrels or disputes with people stronger than ourselves. The razor has a soft and gentle cutting edge, the rock is hard and strong to its advantage. Against the stronger (as everyone well knows) one enters into strife to one's very great harm.
Iconclass
86(N'ENTREPRENDZ RIEN CONTRE PLUS FORT QUE TOY)proverbs, sayings, etc. (N'ENTREPRENDZ RIEN CONTRE PLUS FORT QUE TOY)31A5351razor25H1124boulder, stone47C31cutting (industrial process)31D14adult man33B1quarrel, argument52AA1Stupidity, Poverty of Intellect; 'Stupidità overo Stolidità' (Ripa)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
31A5351razorhighThe correlate 'razor' exactly matches the long open barber's blade the kneeling man grips with both hands.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.mediumThe scene of vainly cutting a rock with a razor is a proverbial image, fitting the general class 'proverbs, sayings, etc.'
98B(NAVIUS)51the augur Attius Navius cuts asunder a whetstone with a razor in front of King TarquinlowThe correlate describes the augur Attius Navius cutting a whetstone with a razor, which resembles the razor-against-stone action here, though no King Tarquin or court setting is present.
52AA51Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa)mediumThe correlate 'Folly, Foolishness' matches the futile, foolish labour of attacking a boulder with a razor, a theme flagged in the commentary.
53A211Obstinacy; 'Ostinatione', 'Pertinacia' (Ripa)medium'Obstinacy' fits the man's stubborn persistence in an impossible task, a concept drawn from the commentary.
53A2Perseverance, Resolution, Determination; 'Perseveranza' (Ripa)low'Perseverance, Resolution, Determination' could apply to the man's dogged effort, though here it appears in its misdirected, futile form.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I iii 46 Contra stimulum calces – thematic inventiohigh
Erasmus glosses this adage as 'frustra repugnare iis quos vincere nequeas' — to struggle in vain against those you cannot conquer — which is exactly the emblem's lesson ('noyses, ou contendz ne fault auoir, à gens plus fors que nous'), with the self-harm of the weaker party (the razor's edge ruined, as the kicker's heel is hurt) as the shared image.
- III viii 60 Non suscipiendum negocium temere – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus applies this to 'a person exceptionally powerful with whom one should not compete or fight', which is verbally close to the emblem's motto 'N'entreprendz rien contre plus fort que toy'; the adage's Homeric stone-throwing Hector even shares the rock imagery.
- I iv 49 Lapidem elixas – thematic inventiomedium
'You are boiling a stone' is Erasmus's figure for vain labour, and he says it suits 'in hominem durum', a hard man whom nothing softens; the emblem similarly opposes a soft, yielding instrument to the unyielding hardness of rock ('La roche est dure, & forte à l'aduantage') to signify wasted effort.
- I x 7 Impossibilia captas – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus draws from this adage the precept that one should not attempt what one is certain to fail at, and warns 'ne quis tentet maiora suis viribus' — not to attempt things beyond one's strength — which is the emblem's explicit moral about undertaking nothing against the stronger.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem033
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem033
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00046