Emblem 12

Emblem 12

A bird seller and a falconer with owls instead of falcons

Elck meynt sijn uyl een valck te zijnDutch

Everyone thinks his owl is a falcon.AI-generated

Description of the imageAI-generated

A circular framed engraving set in a rectangular border with hatched corner triangles. In an open landscape, at the left, a richly dressed falconer wearing a plumed hat rides a horse; a hooded falcon with spread wings sits on his gloved fist and he holds a leash. In the centre-foreground a young man in a broad plumed hat and short cloak strides forward carrying on his shoulder a long wooden perch on which about ten owls of different kinds are sitting; he raises his other gloved hand, on which a large horned owl is perched, and points at it. Two hunting dogs run beside the figures, one at the lower left near the horse, another at the right. In the background are a church tower with a village at the left, a bare twisted tree at the right, and a cloudy sky with small birds flying. At the bottom a scroll banderole bears the handwritten motto; below it at left 'A. V. Venne inuen.' and at right 'A. Matham. sc.'

Subscriptio

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

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

TranscriptionAI-generated

VIer vryers, die om strijt haer vrijsters dapper presen, Beslooten onder een, ick sou haer rechter wesen; Gijs hiet sijn liefste moy; en 'tis een leelijck vel, Fob noemt de sijne net, en 'tis een morse-bel: Guert prijst haer dien hy mint, als geestigh in de seden, En daer en is geen sout in al haer domme leden: Kees acht de sijne vers, en uytter-maten fris, En 'tmeysjen heeft een vel gelijck een drooge vis. Nae dat ick had verstaen al wat een yder seyde, En wat hy tot een gront van sijn vermeten leyde; Soo heb ick dese saeck een weynich overdacht En met een kort beraet dit vonnis uytgebracht: Hoort, vrienden, met een woort den gront van uwe saken, Des vryers gunstigh oog dat kan de schoonheyt maken. Elck acht sijn uyl een valck, en boven eygen mal, Soo wilmen dat het volck het so gelooven sal.

TranslationAI-generated

Four suitors, who vied with one another in boldly praising their sweethearts, agreed among themselves that I should be their judge; Gijs called his beloved pretty—and she is an ugly hide; Fob calls his neat—and she is a slattern; Guert praises the one he loves as witty in her manners—and there is no salt in all her dull limbs; Kees thinks his fresh and extremely lively—and the girl has a skin like a dried fish. After I had heard all that each one said, and what he alleged as the ground of his boasting, I considered the matter a little and with short deliberation pronounced this verdict: Hear, friends, in one word the ground of your case: the suitor's favourable eye is what makes the beauty. Everyone thinks his owl a falcon, and beyond his own folly he wants the people to believe it too.

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Hoogd. Ein jeden dunckt das sein ewl ein falck sey.

German: Everyone thinks his owl is a falcon.

Ital. Affectione accieca ragione.

Italian: Affection blinds reason.

Spaens. Cada buhonero alaba sus cuchillos.

Spanish: Every pedlar praises his own knives.

Franç. Chaque mercier loue ses cousteaux.

French: Every pedlar praises his own knives.

Nederd. Elck kramer prijst sijn messen.

Dutch: Every pedlar praises his own knives.

Spaens. A cada necio agrado su porrada.

Spanish: Every fool is pleased with his own club.

Franç. A chaque fol plaist sa massue.

French: Every fool likes his own cudgel.

Hoogd. Ein ieden gefelt sein weise whol / Drumb ist landt der narren vol.

German: Everyone is well pleased with his own way; that is why the land is full of fools.

Nederd. Elck heeft sijn Grietjen lief al isse begrommelt.

Dutch: Everyone loves his Grietje even though she is grubby.

Franç. Femme & pierrerie Ce n'est qu'une fantasie.

French: Woman and jewellery—it is nothing but fancy.

Hoogd. Es geht mehr liebs zur Kirchen denn schöns.

German: More that is beloved goes to church than what is beautiful.

Nederd. 'sVrijsters schoonheyt leyt in 'sVryers oogh.

Dutch: The sweetheart's beauty lies in the suitor's eye.

Non è bello quello que è bello ma quello che piace. Ital.

Italian: Not that is beautiful which is beautiful, but that which pleases.

Geen leelick lief noch schoone kool-sack. Nederd.

Dutch: No ugly sweetheart nor a clean coal-sack.

Balbinum polypus Agnæ, delectat. Lat.

Latin: Agna's polypus [nasal growth] delights Balbinus.

Elck sotteke prijst sijn marotteken. Nederd.

Dutch: Every little fool praises his own little fool's-bauble.

A blacke man a pearle in a womans eye. Engels.

English: A black man [is] a pearl in a woman's eye.

Ons oog dat heeft een valschen schijn. Elck meynt sijn Uyl een Valck zijn. Nederd.

Dutch: Our eye has a false appearance. Everyone thinks his owl to be a falcon.

Ein ieder narren gefelt sein kolb. Hoogd.

German: Every fool is pleased with his own club.

El desseo haze hermoso lo feo. Spaens.

Spanish: Desire makes the ugly beautiful.

Le desir rend beau ce qui est laid. Franç.

French: Desire makes beautiful what is ugly.

Quod fecit quisque tuetur opus. Ovid.

Ovid: Each man defends the work he himself has made.

Ein jeden kramer lobet seinen kram. Hoogd.

German: Every pedlar praises his own wares.

Ognun loda il suo mestiero. Spaens.

[labelled 'Spanish', but Italian:] Everyone praises his own trade.

Quien feo ama hermoso le parece.

Spanish: He who loves an ugly one, to him she seems beautiful.

Qui aime vn laid luy semble beau. Franç.

French: He who loves an ugly one, to him it seems beautiful.

Herkhischic gendi hui adetschi hosch gelur. Turcks.

Turkish: To everyone his own habit and custom seems pleasant.

Nederd. Dijn hier / 'tsijn daer / 'tmijn is het beste.

Dutch: Yours here, his there—mine is the best.

Lat. Sua cuique prudentia Deus.

Latin: To each man his own prudence is a god.

Domus amica domus commoda.

A friendly house is a convenient house.

Franç. A tout oiseau Son nid est beau.

French: To every bird its own nest is beautiful.

---- non in nidore voluptas Summa, sed in te ipso est.

...the highest pleasure is not in the savour [of the dish], but in yourself.

Patriæ fumus igni alieno luculentior.

The smoke of one's fatherland is brighter than another's fire.

Suum cuique pulchrum.

To each his own is beautiful.

Suus rex reginæ placet.

Her own king pleases the queen.

Mesme vn gueux aime l'odeur de son escuelle. Franç.

French: Even a beggar loves the smell of his own bowl.

Eigner herdt Ist goldt werth / Ist er gleich arm So ist er doch warm. Hoogd.

German: One's own hearth is worth gold; though it be poor, yet it is warm.

Casa mia! casa mia! Per piccina che tu sia. Tu mi pari vna badia. Ital.

Italian: My house, my house! However small you may be, you seem to me an abbey.

Eygen haert is gout waert. Nederd.

Dutch: One's own hearth is worth gold.

Eygen vuyl verleet niet.

One's own dirt does not offend.

Eygen dreck en stinckt niet.

One's own muck does not stink.

Yder bedelaer prijst sijn nap. Yder sot behaegt sijn kap.

Every beggar praises his own bowl; every fool is pleased with his own cap.

Iconclass

25F31 groups of birds

25I5 landscape with tower or castle

31A25552 index finger forwards, pointing, indicating

34B11 dog

41D221(HAT) head-gear: hat

41D225 gloves, mittens, etc.

43C1113(+424):25F34 bird hunting (+ hunting with birds)❧owls

43C11481(+0) game bag (+ variant)

46B21(BIRD MERCHANT) merchant, salesman (BIRD MERCHANT)

46B21(BIRD SELLER) merchant, salesman (BIRD SELLER)

46C131 riding a horse, ass, or mule; rider, horseman

52AA552 Intellectual Blindness; 'Cecità della Mente' (Ripa)

56D29(+4) Misplaced Trust, False Confidence, 'Pax Falsa'; 'Speranza fallace' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

57AA645(+4) Boast; 'Iattanza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

86(ELCK MEYNT SIJN UYL EEN VALCK TE ZIJN) proverbs, sayings, etc. (ELCK MEYNT SIJN UYL EEN VALCK TE ZIJN)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

86 proverbs, sayings, etc.high

The emblem is built around a string of proverbs and sayings ('Everyone thinks his owl is a falcon', 'Every pedlar praises his own knives'), matching 'proverbs, sayings, etc.'

86(...) proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)medium

The banderole carries a specific proverbial motto, so the 'proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)' code fits the inscribed saying.

43C1147 hunting dogshigh

Two hunting dogs run beside the falconer and the owl-carrier, directly matching 'hunting dogs'.

57AA646 Complacency, Self-conceitmedium

'Complacency, Self-conceit' expresses the emblem's theme that everyone is pleased with and overvalues his own (each fool with his own bauble, his own owl taken for a falcon).

56F24 Self-love; 'Amor di se stesso' (Ripa)low

'Self-love' captures the moral that affection for one's own blinds reason, though no Ripa personification of Amor di se stesso is actually depicted.

52AA51 Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa)low

'Folly, Foolishness' echoes the commentary's repeated proverbs about fools pleased with their own club or cap, though the image shows no personified Folly.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I ii 15 Suum cuique pulchrum – direct mottohigh

The emblem's polyglot commentary prints 'Suum cuique pulchrum' verbatim as the Latin equivalent of the Dutch motto 'Elck meynt sijn uyl een valck te zijn'; Erasmus's adage (with its 'to each his own seems beautiful') is exactly the point of the four suitors praising their ugly sweethearts.

I ii 16 Patriae fumus igni alieno luculentior – direct mottohigh

The Latin commentary accompanying the second subscriptio (in praise of one's own roof and hearth) quotes Erasmus's adage verbatim: 'Patriæ fumus igni alieno luculentior'.

III iii 38 Domus amica, domus optima – direct mottohigh

The commentary to the second sense prints 'Domus amica domus commoda', a direct adaptation of Erasmus's adage 'Οἶκος φίλος, οἶκος ἄριστος / Domus amica domus optima', matching the poem 'Eygen haert is gout waert'.

III iv 2 Suus cuique crepitus bene olet – thematic inventiohigh

Erasmus's adage (everyone finds his own fault his best quality, with the note that it belongs under 'Suum cuique pulchrum') is mirrored almost literally by the emblem's Dutch commentary 'Eygen dreck en stinckt niet' / 'Eygen vuyl verleet niet'.

II i 17 Sine rivali diligere – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus explains the phrase from 'lovers who have an ugly mistress such as nobody else would find desirable' and from the ape fondling her own young — precisely the situation of the four suitors extolling their unattractive sweethearts.

III vii 34 Pedere thus – essay quotemedium

The emblem's Latin commentary 'Balbinum polypus Agnæ delectat' is the very Horatian tag Erasmus adduces in this adage's essay to illustrate how philautia and immoderate love make even the foul seem lovely.

I iii 92 Φίλαυτοι – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus's essay on self-lovers states that 'sua cuique magis probentur quam aliena' and cites Horace's 'caecus amor sui' — exactly the moral of the emblem ('Affectione accieca ragione'; the lover's eye makes the beauty).

IV iv 14 Et me mater etc. – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus glosses this adage by saying mothers, blinded by love, think ugly sons handsome and cowards brave — the same mechanism of loving self-deception that turns one's owl into a falcon.

II iv 100 Ipsis placet – thematic inventiolow

Erasmus himself links this adage to 'Suum cuique pulchrum' ('everybody thinks well of his own plans and his own opinion'), the governing idea of the emblem.

III x 18 Patria sua cuique iucundissima – thematic inventiomedium

The second subscriptio's praise of one's own dwelling and hearth above a king's palace restates this adage's point that to each man his own homeland is sweetest, and it stands beside the quoted 'Patriae fumus' adage.

III x 70 Focus luculentus in aedibus – thematic inventiolow

The 'other sense' poem celebrates 'eygen keucken, eygen heert' and warm ashes ('Eygen haert is gout waert'), matching Erasmus's adage that the glowing hearth is a house's chief ornament.

III x 38 Domus optima – thematic inventiolow

The second subscriptio's preference for one's own modest house over great halls and high towers echoes Erasmus's 'Home is best' cluster of Domi vivere adages.