Emblem 67

Emblem 67

Hammer on an anvil

A cueur Constant, chose n'est qui puist nuyre.

To a constant heart there is nothing that can do harm.AI-generated

Description of the woodcutAI-generated

Inside a room with a large window opening, a heavy iron anvil rests on a round wooden block set on the floor. Around the anvil's horn and face a cluster of some eight or ten hammers and mallets is gathered, their heads striking the anvil, several of their handles broken or splayed outward in all directions. A pair of blacksmith's tongs hangs at the side of the wooden block, and another tool or bar lies on the ground at the right; small chips or stones are scattered on the floor at the left.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page of emblem 67 — Facsimile of the page (Herzog August Bibliothek); click to enlarge.

TranscriptionAI-generated

L'Hôme constât est semblable à l'enclume,Qui des marteaux, ne crainct la violence.Cueur vertueux est de telle coustume,Que de malheur ne doubte l'insolence:Ne crainct fureur, yre, maleuolence,Contre tous maulx est prompt à resister,Pour quelque effort, ne se veult desister,De paruenir en honneur & prouesse.Constance faict le Sage persisterEn son entier, & conquester Noblesse.

TranslationAI-generated

The constant man is like the anvil, which does not fear the violence of the hammers. A virtuous heart has such a habit that it does not dread the insolence of misfortune: it fears neither fury, nor wrath, nor malevolence; against all evils it is quick to resist; for no assault whatever will it desist from attaining honour and prowess. Constancy makes the wise man persist whole and entire, and win nobility.

Iconclass

86(A CUEUR CONSTANT, CHOSE N'EST QUI PUIST NUYRE) proverbs, sayings, etc. (A CUEUR CONSTANT, CHOSE N'EST QUI PUIST NUYRE)

47D8(ANVIL) tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: anvil

47D8(HAMMER) tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: hammer

47D8(TONGS) tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: tongs

47D8(NAIL) tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: nail

53A21 Constancy, Tenacity; 'Costanza', 'Tenacità' (Ripa)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

47D8(ANVIL) tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: anvilhigh

The correlate 'tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: anvil' exactly matches the heavy iron anvil on its wooden block that is the emblem's central object.

47D8(HAMMER) tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: hammerhigh

The correlate 'tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: hammer' matches the cluster of eight or ten hammers and mallets, several with broken handles, striking the anvil.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

III i 29 Incus maxima non metuit strepitus – direct mottohigh

The emblem is a vernacular rendering of this adage: the subscriptio states that 'L'Homme constant est semblable à l'enclume, qui des marteaux ne craint la violence,' matching Erasmus's explanation that anvils pounded by hammers never budge, and the motto 'A cueur Constant, chose n'est qui puist nuyre' translates the second line of the Greek couplet, 'Nor has the steadfast heart [fear] of any violence.'

I i 16 Inter malleum et incudem – thematic inventiolow

The picture's cluster of hammers beating on an anvil shares the proverbial hammer-and-anvil image, though Erasmus's sense (being caught in danger between two evils) is not the emblem's point about constancy.

I vii 43 Adamantinus – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus's essay cites Pliny on adamant tested on anvils, repelling blows so that the iron splits — the same image of an unbreakable substance shattering the tools that strike it, which the emblem renders as broken hammer-handles around the unmoved anvil, signifying invincible constancy.