Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 79
Cupid working the bellows under an alembic distilling a heartAI-generated
Mille dangers procedent d' Amour folle.
Emblem 79. A thousand dangers proceed from foolish Love.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A woodcut in a rectangular frame showing an interior/landscape scene. At the left a small winged Cupid, naked and crouching on the ground, turns his head back and works a round-bodied pair of bellows (or fan) with his hands, directing the air to the right. At the right stands a tall distillation apparatus on a scrolled, footed stand: a furnace base in which a fire burns with flames rising around what looks like a heart, surmounted by a large dome-shaped alembic head with a knob on top and a long curved beak or spout running down the right side toward a receiving vessel. Behind, a plain wall and a strip of hatched sky.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
POur folle Amour, les suppostz de Venus,Ont des dangers à milliers, & à centz:Les vns en sont malheureux deuenus,Aultres en ont, du tout perdu le sens.Plusieurs Autheurs en termes condecens,De ce ont escript exemples d'importance.Gardons nous donc, de sa folle accointance,Si ne voulons endurer grandz alarmes:Car à la fin, soubz feu de repentance,Voyez Amour distiller eaue de larmes.
TranslationAI-generated
Because of foolish Love, the followers of Venus have dangers by thousands and by hundreds: some have become wretched through it, others have entirely lost their wits because of it. Several authors, in fitting terms, have written weighty examples of this. Let us therefore beware of its mad acquaintance, if we do not wish to endure great alarms: for in the end, over the fire of repentance, you see Love distilling water of tears.
Iconclass
86(MILLE DANGERS PROCEDENT D' AMOUR FOLLE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (MILLE DANGERS PROCEDENT D' AMOUR FOLLE)92D156other non-aggressive activities of Cupid41B1311bellows41B22heating stove47C1211preparing of material by melting31A2221heart33C971lovesick lover
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
41B1311bellowshighThe correlate 'bellows' matches the round-bodied pair of bellows that Cupid works with his hands to fan the fire.
49E3952(DISTILLATION)additional stages: distillation (destillatio)highThe correlate 'distillation (destillatio)' matches the depicted alembic with dome head, beak and receiving vessel set over a furnace.
49E391alchemist at workmediumThe correlate 'alchemist at work' fits the scene of a figure (Cupid) tending a furnace fire with bellows beneath a distilling apparatus.
31A222101profane heart symbolism ~ lovemediumThe correlate 'profane heart symbolism ~ love' fits the heart burning in the flames of Cupid's furnace as an emblem of love.
33C91Love personifiedlowThe correlate 'Love personified' may cover the winged Cupid who personifies Love operating the bellows.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- IV vii 91 Ut lupus ovem – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus' essay on this adage is an extended catalogue of the harms that lustful 'love' brings — loss of chastity, disgrace, hatred of parents and friends, and finally the loss of 'a sound state of mind' — which matches the emblem's claim that the followers of Venus incur dangers by thousands, some becoming wretched, others wholly losing their wits.
- III ii 44 Caunius amor – thematic inventiolow
The adage stands for a 'foul' or forbidden passion whose exemplum (Byblis, driven to suicide) is exactly the kind of weighty example 'written by several authors' that the subscriptio invokes as proof that foolish love ruins its votaries.
- I i 28 Sero sapiunt Phryges – thematic inventiolow
The emblem's closing image — Cupid distilling tears over the 'fire of repentance' — embodies the proverbial theme of those who repent of their follies only at the end, the application Erasmus gives this adage ('it fits those who repent too late of the stupidities they have committed').
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem079
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem079
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00092