Emblem 11

Emblem 11

Man and woman playing a form of badminton (shuttlecock)

Amor, ut pila, vices exigitLatin

Love, like a ball, demands its turns (a return stroke).AI-generated

Description of the imageAI-generated

Within a circular medallion set in a rectangular hatched frame, a young woman on the left and a young man on the right stand facing each other in a garden, each holding a battledore (a small racket with a rounded head). A feathered shuttlecock flies through the air in the upper middle between them. The woman wears an embroidered cap, a wide lace-edged collar, puffed sleeves and a full pleated skirt; she raises her racket overhead with her right hand. The man wears a broad plumed hat, a slashed doublet with a falling collar, wide breeches, and shoes with rosettes; he holds his racket out to the side with his right hand and extends his left arm behind him. Behind them stretches a formal garden with a trellis fence, clipped hedges, shrubs and small trees, and a gateway building with a rounded arch and pinnacles; a small dog runs on the grass at the right. In the foreground grass there is a small plant and a scattered object. A banderole below the medallion carries the motto in script: 'Amor, ut pila, vices exigit.'

Subscriptio

Facsimile page — Facsimile, page 1 of 2; click a thumbnail to change page; click the page to enlarge

Facsimile, page 1 of 2; click a thumbnail to change page; click the page to enlarge

TranscriptionAI-generated

De Iongelingh spreeckt. Soo ghy wilt dit speeltjen leeren, Soete Vrijster, schoone Blom, Doet den Vlieger weder-keeren, Drijft het veertjen wederom; Want als ick van mijner zijden Maer alleen en soude slaen, Dat en sou ons niet verblijden, Want het spel is stracx gedaen. Weet, dat kaetsen ende minnen Eyst een over-gaenden bal, Anders maecktet droeve sinnen, Anders heeftet geenen val. Liefde doet ons liefde toonen, Liefde geeft de liefde kracht, Liefde moet de liefde loonen, Anders isse sonder macht: Wilt dan weder-liefde dragen Lief, soo wort ghy ras de bruyt, Want ick wilt dan met u wagen; Anders, kint, ick scheyer uyt.

TranslationAI-generated

The young man speaks. If you want to learn this little game, sweet sweetheart, fair flower, make the shuttlecock come back, drive the little feather back again; for if I alone were to strike from my side, that would not delight us, for the game would soon be over. Know that playing ball and loving require a ball that goes back and forth; otherwise it makes for sad minds, otherwise it has no bounce. Love makes us show love, love gives love its power, love must reward love, otherwise it is without strength. So be willing to return love, my dear, and you will soon be a bride, for then I am willing to venture it with you; otherwise, child, I quit the game.

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Franç. Iamais l'amour ne se paye que par amour reciproque. Lat. Et pretium, & merces solus amoris amor. Vid. Sene. de Benef. Beneficium non est aurum, sed Amor per quem datur. Amor enim beneficij anima. August. de amore divino. Durissimus est, quem redamare piget prius amantem. Ital. Ama à chi t'ama, Respond à chi ti chiama. Nederd. Antwoort dieje vraeght. Mint dieje liefde draeght. Ital. Vna mano lava l'altra, & le due lavano il viso. .i. Franç. l'Vne main lave l'autre & les deux le visage. Nederd. Als d'eene handt d'ander wast so wordense beyde reyn. D'een min brengt d'ander in. Lat. Manus manum fricat, gratia gratiam parit. Ferro ferrum acuitur. Fructus amoris amor.

Franç. Amour au cœur me poind Quand bien aimé je suis, Mais aimer je ne puis, Quand on ne m'aime point. Chacun soit adverty De faire comme moy Car d'aimer sans party C'est vn trop grand esmoy. Marot. Proverbium Arabicum ex Arpenio. Lat. Excute mihi ignem & allucebo tibi. .i. ut Iosephus Scaliger interpretatur Esto mihi, ero tibi. Vt ameris amabilis esto. Franç. Aymer sans amour est amer. Nederd. Vrientschap van eener zijde en duert niet langh. Griecx. Χεῖρ χεῖρα νίπτει, Χάρις χάριν φέρει. Mart. Marce, ut ameris ama. Sit in amore reciprocatio. Franç. Amour est d'amour recompence, Et celuy est trop à blamer Qui pour le moins (s'il ne commence) Ne veut pas, quand on l'aime, aimer.

French: Love is never paid for except by reciprocal love. Latin: Love alone is both the price and the wages of love. See Seneca, On Benefits: A benefit is not the gold, but the love with which it is given. For love is the soul of a benefit. Augustine, On Divine Love: He is most hard-hearted who is unwilling to love in return one who has loved him first. Italian: Love the one who loves you, answer the one who calls you. Dutch: Answer him who asks you; love him who bears you love. Italian: One hand washes the other, and the two wash the face, that is: French: One hand washes the other and the two wash the face. Dutch: When one hand washes the other, they both become clean. One love brings on the other. Latin: Hand rubs hand, favour begets favour. Iron is sharpened by iron. The fruit of love is love. French: Love pricks my heart when I am well loved, but I cannot love when no one loves me. Let everyone be warned to do as I do, for to love without a partner is far too great a distress. (Marot.) An Arabic proverb from Arpenius. Latin: Strike fire for me and I will give you light; that is, as Josephus Scaliger interprets it, Be for me, and I shall be for you. To be loved, be lovable. French: To love without love is bitter. Dutch: Friendship from one side does not last long. Greek: Hand washes hand, favour brings favour. Martial: Marcus, love if you would be loved. Let there be reciprocity in love. French: Love is the recompense of love, and he is much to be blamed who at the least (if he does not begin) will not love when he is loved.

Proverbium Arabicum ex Arpenio. Excute mihi ignem & allucebo tibi. .i. ut Iosephus Scaliger interpretatur Esto mihi, ero tibi.

An Arabic proverb from Arpenius: Strike fire for me and I will shine a light for you; that is, as Joseph Scaliger interprets it: Be for me, and I shall be for you.

Iconclass

31A2743 hitting at something

31D14 adult man

31D15 adult woman

33C23 couple of lovers

34B11 dog

41A542 gate, entrance

41A6 garden

41D262(+0) fan (+ variant)

43C4154(+0) 'jeu de volant', badminton (+ variant)

45C13(SWORD) hacking and thrusting weapons: sword

54E31(+4) Agreement, Unity; 'Concordia', 'Concordia insuperabile', 'Concordia militare', 'Concordia di Pace', 'Unione civile' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

56F22(+4) Reciprocal Love (+ emblematical representation of concept)

86(AMOR, UT PILA, VICES EXIGIT) proverbs, sayings, etc. (AMOR, UT PILA, VICES EXIGIT)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

56F22 Reciprocal Lovehigh

The correlate 'Reciprocal Love' exactly matches the motto 'Amor, ut pila, vices exigit' and the commentary's insistence that love is repaid only by love in return.

41A636 French or architectonic garden; formal gardenhigh

The background of trellis fence, clipped hedges and symmetrical planting with a gateway is a formal/architectonic garden as the correlate describes.

34B11 dogmedium

A small dog runs on the grass at the right, matching the plain correlate 'dog'.

33A51 unilateral friendshiplow

The commentary's 'friendship from one side alone does not last long' invokes unilateral friendship, though only as the negative counterpart of the depicted mutual exchange.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I i 33 Manus manum fricat – essay quotehigh

The emblem's Latin commentary quotes the adage verbatim ('Manus manum fricat') and also gives the Greek variant form 'Χεῖρ χεῖρα νίπτει' which Erasmus supplies within this very adage's essay, along with the vernacular equivalents ('Vna mano lava l'altra', 'Als d'eene handt d'ander wast').

I i 34 Gratia gratiam parit – essay quotehigh

The commentary cites 'gratia gratiam parit' word for word, and the accompanying Greek 'Χάρις χάριν φέρει' is precisely the Sophoclean line Erasmus quotes in this adage's essay; it underpins the emblem's whole argument that love must be repaid with love.

I vii 100 Ferrum ferro acuitur – essay quotehigh

The commentary's list of Latin proverbs includes 'Ferro ferrum acuitur', a direct inversion of Erasmus's headword drawn from Proverbs 27, cited here as another figure of mutual/reciprocal action between friends.

I vii 99 Fricantem refrica – thematic inventiomedium

The emblem's point — that one must return the stroke as one returns a kindness ('D'een min brengt d'ander in', 'Sit in amore reciprocatio') — is exactly Erasmus's lesson of repaying service with service, and his essay on this adage also adduces 'manus manum lavat'.

I i 35 Par pari referre – thematic inventiomedium

The shuttlecock driven back and forth illustrates rendering like for like ('Ama à chi t'ama', 'Marce, ut ameris ama'), the very principle of repaying words with words and kindness with kindness that Erasmus expounds under this adage.

II iv 85 Mea est pila – thematic inventiolow

The motto's central metaphor of the ball game ('Amor, ut pila, vices exigit') echoes the proverbial use of the ball-game image that Erasmus records here, though the moral (winning) differs from the emblem's theme of reciprocity.