Guillaume de La Perrièrre, Le Theatre Des Bons Engins (Lyon, 1545)
Emblem 85
A man blowing at a windmill with a bellowsAI-generated
L'homme discret, n'entrepend l'impossible.
Emblem 85. The prudent man does not undertake the impossible.AI-generated
Description of the woodcutAI-generated
A post windmill stands at the left of a small rectangular woodcut, its four latticed sails spread out and its timber trestle supports visible beneath the mill house. To the right a bearded man in a short belted tunic and hose strides forward, leaning in and holding up a large round bellows which he aims at the mill, its nozzle pointing toward the sails. The ground is a bare hummocky field and the sky is rendered in horizontal hatching.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
VN gros canon chargé de peu de pouldre,Ne peult pousser le boulet si auant.Moulin à voyle oncques ne veistes mouldre,Si d'vn soufflet on luy baille le vent.Cestuy propos te monstre & faict sçauant,Qu'en toute chose il fault proportion.Nature faict tout par discretion,Comme Maistresse, & Mere d'artifice:L'homme rassis ayant instruction,Chose impossible, oncques ne meit en lice.
TranslationAI-generated
A great cannon loaded with little powder cannot drive the ball so far. You have never seen a windmill grind if one gives it wind with a bellows. This saying shows you and makes you wise, that in everything proportion is needed. Nature does everything with discretion, as the Mistress and Mother of craft: the steady man who has instruction never put an impossible thing into the lists.
Iconclass
86(L'HOMME DISCRET, N'ENTREPEND L'IMPOSSIBLE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (L'HOMME DISCRET, N'ENTREPEND L'IMPOSSIBLE)47D31windmill31D14adult man41B1311bellows54C1Purposefulness
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
47D31windmillhighA post windmill with latticed sails and trestle is the principal object depicted.
25I41windmill in landscapemediumThe windmill is set in an open hummocky field with sky, matching 'windmill in landscape'.
41B1311bellowshighThe man holds and aims a large round bellows, the other key object in the scene.
51CC19No Result, Lack of Result, Inefficacy, FutilitymediumBlowing a hand bellows at a windmill's sails is an emblem of inefficacy and futile effort.
52AA51Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa)lowThe absurd attempt to drive a windmill with a bellows can personify foolishness.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I x 7 Impossibilia captas – direct mottohigh
The motto 'L'homme discret, n'entreprend l'impossible' is effectively a negative restatement of Ἀδύνατα θηρεῖς / 'Impossibilia captas', and the subscriptio's lesson ('qu'en toute chose il fault proportion' ... 'Chose impossible, oncques ne meit en lice') echoes the adage's gloss that one must observe due measure and not attempt what exceeds one's strength (Pindar's 'videre modum ... ne quis tentet maiora suis viribus').
- III v 84 Sine pennis volare haud facile est – thematic inventiolow
The bellows aimed at a windmill illustrates the same idea as this adage, that a task cannot be accomplished when the necessary means (adminicula) are lacking or disproportionate to the end.
Sources
Record ID: embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem085
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embhab_162-3-eth-b_emblem085
Page in the digital copy of the Herzog August Bibliothek: http://diglib.hab.de/drucke/162-3-eth-b/start.htm?image=00098