Emblem 55

Emblem 55

A man tugging at a horse's tail while another holds its halterAI-generated

Force n'a lieu, ou Prudence domine.

Emblem 55. Force has no place where Prudence rules.AI-generated

Description of the woodcutAI-generated

A woodcut in a rectangular frame showing an open landscape with hills and bushes. In the centre a horse stands with its mane bristling, head lowered and turned to the left. Behind it, at the right, a man wearing a wide hat and long coat leans forward holding a round halter or bridle loop, reaching toward the horse's head. At the rear of the horse, on the right, another man in a cap crouches low and grasps the horse's tail with both hands, pulling at it. Rocks and tufts of grass are scattered in the foreground.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page of emblem 55 — Facsimile of the page (Herzog August Bibliothek); click to enlarge.

TranscriptionAI-generated

A Vn cheual, soubdain & tout d'vn coup,Qui veult le poil de la queue arracher,Est temeraire, & n'aduance beaucoup,Ne paruenant à ce qu'il veult tascher.A l'homme fol on faict son frein mascher,Et ne paruient à son intention.L'homme prudent en moderation,Ce qu'il pretend, faict successiuement,A l'homme fol precipitation,Donne trauail, & peu d'aduancement.

TranslationAI-generated

He who wants to tear the hair from a horse's tail suddenly and all at once is rash, and makes little progress, never attaining what he is trying for. The foolish man is made to chew his bit, and does not reach his aim. The prudent man, in moderation, achieves what he intends step by step; to the foolish man haste gives toil and little advancement.

Iconclass

86(FORCE N'A LIEU, OU PRUDENCE DOMINE) proverbs, sayings, etc. (FORCE N'A LIEU, OU PRUDENCE DOMINE)

46C13141(+7531) horse (+ standing animal)

46C13141(+7343) horse (+ tail of an animal)

31B8 fool, simpleton, numskull

31B6262 pulling out one's hair

31B9 wise men versus fools

54A44 Patience; 'Patienza' (Ripa)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

98B(SERTORIUS, Q.)51 Quintus Sertorius orders two men to pull the hair from a horse's tail: one tries to pull all the hairs in one time, and fails, the other pulls the hairs one by one and succeeds (an example of the advantage of perseverance over violence)high

The correlate describes exactly the scene depicted: two men at a horse, one pulling at the horse's tail with force, the exemplum of perseverance over violence.

46C13141 horsehigh

The central motif is simply a horse, standing in the landscape.

46C1316 saddling and bridlingmedium

The man leaning forward with a round halter/bridle loop toward the horse's head corresponds to 'saddling and bridling'.

25H landscapesmedium

The scene is set in an open landscape with hills, bushes, rocks and grass tufts.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

II i 1 Festina lente – thematic inventiohigh

The subscriptio's whole lesson — the rash man who tries to pull out the tail 'soubdain & tout d'vn coup' gains nothing, while 'L'homme prudent en moderation / Ce qu'il pretend, faict successiuement' — is the classic exposition of 'make haste slowly': deliberate, measured action accomplishes what impetuous force cannot.

V i 63 Sapientia gubernator navis – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus' gloss — 'even in war counsel carries more weight than force' / 'The steersman turns the ship by judgment, not by strength' — states precisely the emblem's motto, 'Force n'a lieu, ou Prudence domine.'

III v 60 Qui nimium properat, serius absoluit – thematic inventiomedium

The emblem's closing couplet, that precipitation gives the fool 'trauail, & peu d'aduancement,' is the proverbial 'more haste, less speed' applied to the tail-plucking exemplum.

II iii 70 Antequam incipias, consulta – thematic inventiomedium

The contrast between the temerarious man who acts without reflection and the prudent man who proceeds by stages matches Sallust's maxim as Erasmus expounds it (and Erasmus himself cross-refers it to Festina lente).

II ix 56 Omnia sapientibus facilia – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus' gloss 'nothing is so hard that care and prudence may not accomplish it easily' corresponds to the emblem's point that what brute force cannot achieve at one pull, prudent moderation achieves step by step.

III iii 3 Assidua stilla saxum excavat – thematic inventiolow

The horse-tail exemplum (hairs plucked one by one succeed where a single violent tug fails) embodies the same proverbial doctrine that persistent, gradual effort accomplishes what strength applied all at once cannot.