Emblem 9

Emblem 9

A lady is paying for a pearl necklace which she has only been able to inspect by candle light

Prendre ne dois à la chandelle Ny or, ny toile, & moins pucelleFrench

By candlelight you should take neither gold, nor cloth, and still less a maiden.AI-generated

Description of the imageAI-generated

Inside a room at night, a bearded man in a broad-brimmed hat sits at the left behind a table covered with a heavy fringed cloth; an open jewel casket, loose gems and coins lie on the table before him. In the middle of the table a candle burns in a candlestick. Opposite him, at the right, a richly dressed woman with a lace collar and feathered headdress leans forward, holding up a long string of pearls to the candlelight and resting her other hand on a striped box, with coins in front of her. Behind her hangs a large curtain, drawn back at the right to reveal an outdoor scene in daylight: a woman and a man in a cloak and hat meeting and joining hands in a street before houses and a church tower, with a small seated figure below them. The whole scene is enclosed in a large circular frame set within a square border with ornamental corner pieces; a banderole at the bottom carries the French motto.

Subscriptio

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Facsimile, page 1 of 3; click a thumbnail to change page; click the page to enlarge

TranscriptionAI-generated

Dit wijf dat ghy hier voor u siet, En gelt aen desen koop-man biet; Dit wijf is wonder slecht bedacht, Want sy koopt peerels inder nacht, Sy koopt in haest by 't keersen-licht, Daer toe men houft een vol gesicht. Wel, Iuffer, wat ick bidden mach, Ey, sluyt geen koop als metten dach, Maer laet den nacht eerst over gaen, Of wis ghy sult bedrogen staen, Want koopt ghy niet ter rechter tijt, Soo koopt ghy niet als enckel spijt. Gesellen, die des avonts vrijt, En dickmael wonder jachtigh zijt, En vaert niet inder haesten voort, En spreeckt niet haest het groote woort, En geeft voor al u troutjen niet, Tot ghy het lief by daeghe siet: Houdt seker dat de keerse liegt, Houdt seker dat de nacht bedrieght, En dat men met een korten spoet, Noyt groote dingen wel en doet. 'tIs waer, dat even inder nacht Een saecke dient te zijn bedacht; Maer al wat dienstigh is gesien Dat moet by hellen dach geschien. » Geen schoone perel dient gesocht, » Geen fijne webbe dient gekocht, » Geen vrijster oyt te zijn gemijnt, » Dan als de gulde sonne schijnt, » Want, die in duyster henen loopt, » En even dan juweelen koopt, » Of s'nachts sich koppelt aen een vrouw, » Die queelt by daeghe van berouw. » Dus wildy niet bedrogen zijn, » Soo wacht den klaren Sonne-schijn, Soo wacht, ô grage vryer, wacht, Tot dat het stuck wel is bedacht, En ghy oock soete Vrijsters beyt Tot alles wel is over-leyt.

TranslationAI-generated

This woman whom you see here before you, and who offers money to this merchant; this woman is wondrously ill-advised, for she buys pearls in the night, she buys in haste by candlelight, for which one needs full sight. Well, my lady, if I may beg you, oh, do not close a bargain as if it were daylight, but let the night first pass by, or surely you will be left deceived; for if you do not buy at the right time, then you buy nothing but sheer vexation. You lads who go courting in the evening, and who are often wondrously eager, do not rush ahead in haste, and do not speak the great word too soon, and above all do not give your troth-token until you have seen your beloved by day: be sure that the candle lies, be sure that the night deceives, and that with brief haste one never does great things well. It is true that even in the night a matter should be pondered; but whatever must be seen to advantage must happen by bright day. No fair pearl should be sought, no fine cloth should be bought, no maiden ever be bid for, except when the golden sun shines; for he who walks about in darkness and buys jewels just then, or by night couples himself to a woman, will pine by day with remorse. Thus, if you do not wish to be deceived, then wait for the clear sunshine; wait then, o eager wooer, wait, until the matter is well considered, and you too, sweet maidens, hold off until all has been well thought over.

CommentaryAI-generated

1 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)

Spaens. LA muger y la tela Ne pigliar' a la candela. Lat. Ovid. Iudicio formæ noxque merumque nocent. Ital. Al lume di candella Ogni rustica pare bella. Franç. De nuict à la chandelle l'asnesse semble damoiselle. Ratio est quia Spaens. Non è oro tutto quel che luce. Hoogd. Es seindt nicht alle Jäger die hornlein führen. Franç. Qui en haste se marie, à Loisir se repent. Nederd. Men moet geen katten in sacken kopen. Die ten danse wil gaen moet sien wie hy metter hant neemt. By nachte sijn alle katten graeu. Lat. Ovid. Nocte latent mendæ, vitioque ignoscitur omni, Horaque formosam quamlibet illa facit. Consule de gemmis, de tinctâ murice lanâ, Consule de facie corporibusq; diem. Virg. Nox & amor vinumque nihil moderabile suadent. Hoogd. Gut ding wil weil haben. Nederd. Niet metter haest als vlojen vangen. Ital. A chi compra besogna haver cent' occhi, à chi vende, ne basta uno. Nederd. Die verkoopt en hoeft maer een oogh/ die koopt hoefter hondert. Hinc Magnates qui pictis tabulis inter sese matrimonia conciliant sæpe falluntur. & ideo Isabella Castiliæ regina noluit nubere Ferdinando, nisi prius principem vidisset. Nec Elisabetha Anglorum regina Henrico Suecorum regi. Richter. latè axiomet. œcon. 73. Nederd. Koopt onbesien het sal u rouwen/ En dat voor al in koop van vrouwen. Senec. Si quid bene factum velis, tempori trade. Ital. Nè femina, nè tela à lume de candela. Lat. Noctem requirunt fraudes, lucem veritas. Quem texerat dolum nox, prodidit dies. Celeritas infamis naufragijs. Stat. - - - Malè cuncta ministrat Impetus. Richter. axiom. Hist. 227. & 247. Conciliorum præcocium & inconsultarum actionum infœlix & tristis solet esse exitus, festinatæque actiones & consilia semper fuerunt calamitosa aut pernitiosa: ut latè exemplis & rationibus deducit Richt. d. loc.

Spanish: Woman and cloth, do not take by candlelight. — Latin, Ovid: Night and strong wine harm the judgement of beauty. — Italian: By candlelight every country girl seems beautiful. — French: At night by candlelight the she-ass seems a young lady. — The reason is because — Spanish: Not all that glitters is gold. — High German: Not all are hunters who carry little horns. — French: Who marries in haste repents at leisure. — Dutch: One must not buy cats in sacks. He who will go to the dance must look whom he takes by the hand. By night all cats are grey. — Latin, Ovid: By night blemishes lie hidden and every fault is forgiven, and that hour makes any woman beautiful. Consult the day about gems, about wool dyed with purple, consult the day about a face and about bodies. — Virgil (sic): Night and love and wine counsel nothing moderate. — High German: A good thing wants time. — Dutch: Nothing in haste except catching fleas. — Italian: The buyer needs a hundred eyes, for the seller one is enough. — Dutch: He who sells needs but one eye, he who buys needs a hundred. — Hence great lords who arrange marriages among themselves by means of painted portraits are often deceived. — and therefore — Isabella, queen of Castile, would not marry Ferdinand unless she had first seen the prince. — Nor would Elizabeth, queen of the English, marry Henry, king of the Swedes. (Richter, broadly, axiomata oeconomica 73.) — Dutch: Buy unseen and it will grieve you, and that above all in the buying of women. — Seneca: If you want something well done, entrust it to time. — Italian: Neither woman nor cloth by candlelight. — Latin: Frauds seek night, truth seeks light. — The guile that night had woven, day betrayed. — Speed is notorious for shipwrecks. — Statius: ... Impulse manages everything badly. — Richter, axiomata historica 227 and 247: The outcome of premature counsels and rash actions is usually unhappy and sad, and hasty actions and plans have always been calamitous or pernicious, as Richter shows at length with examples and arguments in the passage cited.

Iconclass

31D15 adult woman

33A12 shaking hands, 'dextrarum junctio'

34B11 dog

41A421 curtains

41A711 table

41A713 cover for table, etc.

41B21 open hearth, fire-place

41B2141 chimney-piece, mantelpiece

41B31(+1) candle (+ kindling a light; lit, burning light, lamp, candle)

41D221(CAP) head-gear: cap

41D221(HAT) head-gear: hat

41D26611 pearl; pearl necklace

41D2668 jewel-box

42D3 marriage, married couple, 'matrimonium'

46B311 coin

46B411 buying

51G5(+4) Visibility (+ emblematical representation of concept)

51M11(+4) Swiftness, Speed; 'Agilità', 'Celerità', 'Velocità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

51M12(+4) Haste (+ emblematical representation of concept)

51MM11(+4) Slowness, Tardiness; 'Tardità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

52A24(+4) Precaution (+ emblematical representation of concept)

86(PRENDRE NE DOIS À LA CHANDELLE NY OR, NY TOILE, & MOINS PUCELLE) proverbs, sayings, etc. (PRENDRE NE DOIS À LA CHANDELLE NY OR, NY TOILE, & MOINS PUCELLE)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

41B31 candlehigh

The correlate 'candle' matches the burning candle in a candlestick at the centre of the table, the emblem's key motif of judging by candlelight.

41A421 curtainshigh

The correlate 'curtains' matches the large curtain hanging behind the woman, drawn back at the right to reveal the daylight street scene.

41D26611 pearl; pearl necklacehigh

The correlate 'pearl; pearl necklace' matches the long string of pearls the richly dressed woman holds up to the candlelight.

23R14 nightmedium

The correlate 'night' fits the nocturnal interior setting that the motto and commentary insist on ('by night all cats are grey').

23R day and nightmedium

The correlate 'day and night' captures the deliberate contrast between the candlelit night interior and the daylight street scene revealed behind the curtain, the emblem's central opposition.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

II ii 43 In nocte consilium – thematic inventiomedium

Cats concedes the proverb that night is good for deliberation ('tIs waer, dat even inder nacht / Een saecke dient te zijn bedacht') but qualifies it: whatever must be judged by sight must be done in broad day. The emblem thus plays against the adage 'ἐν νυκτὶ βουλή / In nocte consilium'.

II i 1 Festina lente – thematic inventiomedium

The subscriptio's core moral — 'met een korten spoet noyt groote dingen wel en doet', reinforced by 'Gut ding wil weil haben' and Seneca's 'Si quid bene factum velis, tempori trade' — is the commonplace of deliberate, unhurried action that Erasmus expounds at length under Festina lente.

III v 60 Qui nimium properat, serius absoluit – thematic inventiomedium

The emblem's warning against rash courting and hasty buying ('En vaert niet inder haesten voort'; 'Malè cuncta ministrat impetus'; 'Celeritas infamis naufragijs') restates Erasmus's 'more haste, less speed' on premature, ill-considered action.

II i 74 Purpura juxta purpuram dijudicanda – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus's adage concerns buyers of purple cloth who compare samples so as not to be deceived; Cats forbids buying cloth (and pearls, and brides) by candlelight, quoting Ovid's 'Consule de gemmis, de tinctâ murice lanâ ... diem', the same problem of reliable judgement of dyed wool.

II ii 35 Canis festinans caecos parit catulos – thematic inventiolow

The imagery of blindness born of haste matches the emblem's point that hurried, candlelit choices are made 'blind' and turn out badly ('Niet metter haest als vlojen vangen').

IV iii 50 Aurum subaeratum – thematic inventiolow

The commentary's reason for the prohibition — 'Non è oro tutto quel che luce', 'de keerse liegt', 'Noctem requirunt fraudes' — is the same deceptive-surface motif Erasmus treats under gilded, copper-cored coin: what shines outwardly is not what it seems.