Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 50
A woman offering a cup of wine to a feverish man in bedAI-generated
N'incite point le mauuais à mal faire.
Emblem 50. Do not incite the wicked man to do evil.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A bedroom interior. A man lies propped up in a large curtained bed, his head on a pillow, bedclothes drawn over him. At the bedside a woman in a long gown with a laced bodice and plaited hair stands, leaning forward over a small table or bed-tray on which a cup or goblet stands; she reaches toward the bed. Behind her hangs a heavy curtain; the floor is tiled in a diamond pattern and a low chest or stool stands at the foot of the bed.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Qvi donne vin à vn febricitant,Il ne le faict qu'eschauffer d'auantage:Le vin est chauld, & la fiebure excitant,Au patient il porte grand dommage.Semblablement le Prince n'est pas Sage,Qui donne aux folz, dignitez & offices:Car par ce don augmentent leurs malices,Et tant plus sont en haulte dignité,Plus ont pouuoir de faire malefices,Au detriment de la communité.
TranslationAI-generated
Whoever gives wine to a man with a fever only makes him hotter still: wine is hot, and, stirring up the fever, it brings great harm to the patient. In the same way the Prince is not wise who gives to fools dignities and offices: for by that gift their malice is increased, and the higher they are in dignity, the more power they have to do evil deeds, to the detriment of the commonwealth.
Iconclass
86(N'INCITE POINT LE MAUUAIS À MAL FAIRE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (N'INCITE POINT LE MAUUAIS À MAL FAIRE)41A23bedroom49G21sick-bed31D14(+56)adult man (+ lying)31D15adult woman49G22nursing, tending the sick41A773container of ceramics: jar, jug, pot, vase41C322mug, beaker, goblet44B126enfeoffment44B17bad ruler
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II v 18 Ne puero gladium – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's lesson — that a prince who gives dignities and offices to fools merely arms their malice ('plus ont pouuoir de faire malefices') — is exactly Erasmus' point that one must not put a weapon (power, means of harm) into the hands of those incapable of using it rightly.
- I ii 9 Oleum camino addere – thematic inventiomedium
The picture and subscriptio turn on giving hot wine to a man burning with fever, which 'ne le faict qu'eschauffer d'auantage' — the classic proverbial image of feeding fuel to an existing fire, i.e. aggravating an evil rather than checking it; the motto 'N'incite point le mauuais à mal faire' is the moral application of that adage (cf. also 'Ignem igni ne addas').
- II iii 20 Ranis vinum praeministras – thematic inventiolow
Shares the topos of the misplaced gift of wine (munus ineptum): wine offered to a recipient for whom it is useless or harmful, as the emblem's wine given to a fever patient and offices given to fools.
- I vii 10 Simia in purpura – thematic inventiolow
The second half of the dizain attacks the prince who confers 'dignitez & offices' on fools, the same abuse of 'honos indigno habitus' that Erasmus illustrates with the apes one sees dressed in purple at princes' courts.
- II v 47 Ne a quovis ligno Mercurius fiat – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus applies the adage to the principle that not every nature is suited to every function; the emblem's moral that the prince should not appoint fools to office rests on the same idea of fitting the man to the charge.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem050
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem050
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00063