Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 43
A galley rowing against a strong windAI-generated
Par vn moyen qui fault, en cherche vn autre.
When one means fails, seek another.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A woodcut within a rectangular frame showing a galley at sea. The ship has a large billowing sail bent backwards and a row of oars extending from its hull into the choppy waves; masts and rigging lean toward the left. In the upper right corner a personified wind-head emerges from clouds, blowing a strong blast against the vessel. A small sail or distant craft appears on the horizon at the left.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
VErtu de bras faict uoguer la Galee,Malgré des ventz, ses forces & renfors.Ce que nous faict demonstrance assez claire,De ceulx qui ont les courages peu fors,Si d'aduenture on n'est par ses effors,Du premier coup paruenu ou lon tend,Sans desespoir oste ce qu'on pretend,Par aultre endroit il fault qu'on y pouruoye:Car qui ne peult venir ou il s'attend,Par vn coste, si cherche vne aultre voye.
TranslationAI-generated
The strength of arms makes the galley row on, in spite of the winds, their forces and reinforcements. This gives us a clear enough demonstration concerning those whose courage is weak: if by chance one has not, by one's efforts, reached at the first attempt the goal one aims at, without despairing of what one seeks, one must provide for it by another route: for he who cannot arrive where he expects by one side, let him seek another way.
Iconclass
86(PAR VN MOYEN QUI FAULT, EN CHERCHE VN AUTRE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (PAR VN MOYEN QUI FAULT, EN CHERCHE VN AUTRE)25H2322sea46C23221(+31)trireme, galley (+ propulsion of vehicle, ship, etc. by human power)46C24111sail46C215(RUDDER)parts of ship's exterior: rudder26C0'Venti' (Ripa)53A2Perseverance, Resolution, Determination; 'Perseveranza' (Ripa)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
46C2323oaring, scullinglowThe correlate 'oaring, sculling' relates to the row of oars extending from the galley's hull, though the emblem depicts the oared vessel driven by wind rather than an act of rowing per se.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I iv 18 Remis velisque – thematic inventiomedium
The woodcut shows a galley driven by oars against a contrary wind, the exact nautical topos of this adage, whose essay explains that when a ship is propelled by rowing rather than sail the Greeks call it δεύτερος πλοῦς, the 'second-best course' — precisely the emblem's lesson that when one means (the sail/wind) fails, one resorts to another (the oars).
- II vii 21 Aliud genus remi – thematic inventiolow
The motto 'when one means fails, seek another' matches the proverbial cry 'another sort of oar', used of adopting a new and unaccustomed method; the emblem's picture of oars propelling the ship when the wind is adverse echoes the adage's image of improvised means of navigation.
- IV v 72 Omnes adhibere machinas – thematic inventiolow
The subscriptio's advice to persevere by a different route rather than despair corresponds to the adage's sense of using every device and leaving nothing untried (nihil relinquunt intentatum), though there is no textual borrowing.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem043
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem043
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00056