Emblem 52

Emblem 52

An eagle beside an arrow fledged with its own feathersAI-generated

Ostons de nous cela qui nous decoit.

Emblem 52. Let us remove from ourselves that which deceives us.AI-generated

Description of the woodcutAI-generated

A woodcut in a ruled frame showing a large eagle standing on rocky ground, its body turned to the left, head in profile with open beak, and both wings spread wide. At the lower left, on a rock, stands an upright arrow with its feathered shaft (fletched with plumes) visible; clumps of grass and foliage grow at the left and right of the rocky foreground.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page of emblem 52 — Facsimile of the page (Herzog August Bibliothek); click to enlarge.

TranscriptionAI-generated

A Grand regret, & piteux desconfort,L'aigle se plainct comme mal fortunee,Quand d'vne flesche on l'a frappee à mort,Laquelle fut, de sa plume empennee.La personne est bien de malheure nee,Qui de son mal donne l'occasion,Et qui cause est de sa destruction:Car d'vn seul coup, double douleur reçoit.Auoir fault donc ceste discretion,D'oster de nous, cela qui nous deçoit.

TranslationAI-generated

With great regret and piteous distress the eagle complains, as one ill-fortuned, when it has been struck dead by an arrow which was fledged with its own feather. That person is indeed born to misfortune who gives the occasion of his own harm, and who is the cause of his own destruction: for from a single blow he receives a double pain. One must therefore have the discretion to remove from ourselves that which deceives us.

Iconclass

86(OSTONS DE NOUS CELA QUI NOUS DECOIT) proverbs, sayings, etc. (OSTONS DE NOUS CELA QUI NOUS DECOIT)

25F33(EAGLE)(+531) predatory birds: eagle (+ standing animal)

25F33(EAGLE)(+62) predatory birds: eagle (+ animal(s) being wounded)

45C15(ARROW) archer's weapons: arrow

25F33(EAGLE)(+352) predatory birds: eagle (+ feathers)

58AA12 Self-destruction

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.

25F33(EAGLE) predatory birds: eaglehigh

The correlate 'predatory birds: eagle' directly matches the large eagle with spread wings standing on the rocky ground, the emblem's central figure.

45C15(ARROW) archer's weapons: arrowhigh

The correlate 'archer's weapons: arrow' matches the upright feather-fletched arrow standing on the rock at the lower left.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.

I vi 52 Nostris ipsorum alis capimur – essay quotehigh

The emblem's picture (eagle with spread wings beside a feather-fletched arrow) and subscriptio retell exactly the Aeschylean/Libyan fable given in this adage's essay — the eagle struck by an arrow fledged with its own plumes — and the French line 'Qui de son mal donne l'occasion' renders Erasmus' application 'Convenit in eos, qui ipsi praebent occasionem sui mali'.

IV i 96 Bis interimitur, qui suis armis perit – thematic inventiohigh

Erasmus illustrates this adage with Gabrias' verses on the eagle weeping over the feathered arrow that wounded it ('Feathered as I am, it is by my feathers I am brought to ruin'), matching both the woodcut and the eagle's lament; the subscriptio's 'd'un seul coup, double douleur reçoit' is effectively the adage's point that one dies twice who perishes by his own weapons.

I i 66 Capra contra sese cornua – thematic inventiomedium

Parallel fable in the same 'malum accersitum' family: an animal wounded by an arrow recognizes that the weapon was made from its own body ('In meam ipsius perniciem produxi cornua'), the same moral of self-caused destruction expressed in the emblem.