Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 70
A naked man swimming with a heavy bundle on his backAI-generated
Desir d'avoir, faict viure en grand trauail.
Emblem 70. The desire to possess makes one live in great toil.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A woodcut of a seascape: a naked man swims in choppy waves, his body half-submerged, while a large bundle or pack is strapped on his back and shoulders, weighing him down. His head is turned up out of the water and one arm reaches forward; his legs trail behind in the waves. In the distance a shoreline with a hill, buildings and a tower is visible, with a small sailing vessel on the water and birds in the sky above.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
COmment peulx tu nager bien à ton aise,Charge de faix quãd nud te conuiét estre?Trouueras tu iamais homme, qui s'ayseA son plaisir, si de son corps n'est maistre?Si vain espoir te lye en son cheuestre:Te rendant serf pour honneur terrien,Qu'est ce apres tout, de ton faict? moins q̃ rien?Car attendant, quelque bien transitoire,Suyuant la Court, seras plus serf qu'vn chien,Et si verras ton espoir frustratoire.
TranslationAI-generated
How can you swim comfortably, laden with a burden, when you ought to be naked? Will you ever find a man who takes his ease at his pleasure, if he is not master of his own body? If vain hope binds you in its halter, making you a serf for earthly honour, what is it, after all, of your doing? Less than nothing. For while waiting for some transitory good, following the Court, you will be more of a slave than a dog, and so you will see your hope come to nothing.
Iconclass
86(DESIR D'AVOIR, FAICT VIURE EN GRAND TRAUAIL)proverbs, sayings, etc. (DESIR D'AVOIR, FAICT VIURE EN GRAND TRAUAIL)25H13coast25H2322sea31D14adult man46C1211carrying something in basket, bag, rucksack, etc.31A2773swimming (movement in water)44B152royal household; courtiers, retinue, train51EE2Inferiority51EE11Restriction, Limitation
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
46C24sailing-ship, sailing-boatmediumThe correlate 'sailing-ship, sailing-boat' matches the small sailing vessel depicted on the water in the background of the seascape.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- IV v 91 Cum sarcinis enatare – thematic inventiohigh
The woodcut literally shows a naked swimmer weighed down by a pack, and the subscriptio asks 'Comment peulx tu nager bien à ton aise, chargé de faix quand nud te convient estre?' — precisely Seneca's 'Nemo cum sarcinis enatat' as Erasmus glosses it: no one reaches liberty who will not throw off the rewards of servitude (here, courtly hopes of gain).
- IV v 73 Leo cordula vinctus – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus (from Lucian's De mercede conductis, the same source-family as 'cum sarcinis enatat') describes the great man bound to a prince for a tiny advantage and paraded at court; the emblem's 'Suyvant la Court, seras plus serf qu'un chien... si vain espoir te lye en son cheuestre' expresses exactly this courtly bondage for small gain.
- II iv 5 Spem precio emere – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus's essay applies the adage to 'those who are lured by the hope of very great results to curry favour with princes through subservience and gifts, or at any rate through the sacrifice of youth and leisure' — the emblem's courtier who waits for 'quelque bien transitoire' and ends with 'ton espoir frustratoire' is the same figure buying hope at a real price.
- V i 24 Argentum accepi, dote imperium vendidi – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus glosses the line with the maxim 'qui accipit beneficium perdit libertatem'; the emblem makes the same point that desire for earthly honour and gain makes a man 'serf', no longer 'maistre de son corps'.
- IV iii 5 Inani spe flagrat – thematic inventiolow
The closing line 'verras ton espoir frustratoire' and 'si vain espoir te lye en son cheuestre' echo the adage's theme of the man futilely inflamed by empty hopes of great things.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem070
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem070
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00083