Emblem 84

Emblem 84

A hawk seizing a partridge and caught by its feetAI-generated

Tel cuyde vaincre, qui en fin est vaincu.

Such a one thinks to conquer, who in the end is conquered.AI-generated

Description of the woodcutAI-generated

Within a rectangular woodcut frame, two birds grapple together on the branch of a gnarled, leafy tree that grows from a grassy mound in the foreground. The bird on the right, a hawk with large outspread wings and splayed tail, clutches at a smaller bird (a partridge) on the left, which has its wings beaten down and its head turned back toward the hawk; the partridge's claws appear to grip the hawk's foot. A landscape with low hills and leafy branches fills the background.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page of emblem 84 — Facsimile of the page (Herzog August Bibliothek); click to enlarge.

TranscriptionAI-generated

L'Autour pretend de Perdrix faire proye,Et bien souuent par les piedz il est prins:Tel cuyde vaincre, & puis crier mont ioye,Qui au combat le premier est surprins.Maint cueur volage à souuent entreprins,D'auoir pour rien, querelles & debatz,Et demander, ou presenter combatz,Comme trop fol, & plus que temeraire,Qui à grand' honte ha esté mys au bas,Quand pensoit estre au dessus de l'affaire.

TranslationAI-generated

The goshawk intends to make prey of the partridge, and very often he is caught by the feet: such a one thinks to conquer, and then to cry "Montjoie" (victory), who in the fight is the first to be taken by surprise. Many a fickle heart has often undertaken to have quarrels and disputes over nothing, and to demand or offer combat, like one too foolish and more than rash, who to his great shame has been brought low when he thought he was getting the upper hand in the matter.

Iconclass

86(TEL CUYDE VAINCRE, QUI EN FIN EST VAINCU) proverbs, sayings, etc. (TEL CUYDE VAINCRE, QUI EN FIN EST VAINCU)

25G3 trees

25F33(HAWK)(+5262) predatory birds: hawk (+ flying animal(s))

25F33(HAWK)(+621) predatory birds: hawk (+ animal(s) being hit, shot, caught)

34B133 bird on a cord or string

57AA64 Pride, Loftiness; 'Alterezza in persona nata povera civile' (Ripa)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

25F33(HAWK) predatory birds: hawkhigh

The correlate 'predatory birds: hawk' directly matches the hawk with outspread wings seizing the smaller bird.

25F38(PARTRIDGE) walker and runner birds: partridgehigh

The correlate 'walker and runner birds: partridge' matches the partridge being clutched by the hawk on the branch.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I i 58 Cornix scorpium – thematic inventiohigh

Erasmus' adage tells of the crow that seizes a scorpion and is killed by its sting, concluding 'in human affairs it often happens that the one who seems to be the captor is himself caught' — exactly the emblem's hawk that seizes the partridge and is itself caught by the feet, and its motto 'Such a one thinks to conquer, who in the end is conquered.'

I i 82 Cornutam bestiam petis – thematic inventiomedium

The adage concerns attacking a creature ready to repay the injury, whom one provokes at one's own peril; the subscriptio's rash challengers who 'demand or offer combat' and are brought low correspond to this moral of the aggressor undone by his chosen victim.

I i 53 Suo ipsius laqueo captus est – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus' metaphor is taken from those who set snares for birds and are caught in them themselves; the emblem shows the predatory hawk literally gripped by the partridge's claws, i.e. the trapper trapped.

I i 52 Indicit in foveam quam fecit – thematic inventiolow

The emblem's reversal — the attacker becoming the victim of his own aggression — restates the biblical proverb of the hunter falling into his own pit, which Erasmus likewise derives from trapping wild creatures.

I vi 52 Nostris ipsorum alis capimur – thematic inventiolow

The adage's bird fable (the eagle struck by an arrow feathered with its own plumes) belongs to the same locus 'malum retortum' as the emblem's hawk undone in the very act of seizing its prey.