Emblem 55

Hands from the clouds are pulling hairs from a man with a full head of hair and from a man who is nearly bald

No motto

Description of the imageAI-generated

Within a large oval frame (set in a square plate with ornamental corner spandrels and a blank scroll-banderole beneath) two men sit side by side on the ground in the open air. The man on the left is heavy-set and richly dressed in a fur-trimmed robe, with a thick head of hair and a full beard; he raises his left hand and clenches his right fist, his face contorted. The man on the right is thin, bald and poorly dressed in a plain gown; he throws up both hands and cries out, his mouth open. Out of a cloud in the upper part of the oval two bare arms reach down, each hand plucking a tuft of hair from one of the men's heads — one from the hairy man's forelock, one from the bald man's scalp. In the left background stands a large town or castle with gabled buildings and birds in the sky; on the right is open country with a thatched cottage, bare trees and a road. The engraver's marks 'M' (lower left) and a 'VV'/W monogram (lower right) appear in the corners.

Subscriptio

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TranscriptionAI-generated

Extrahe villosâ paucos è fronte capillos, Et simul è calvo vertice tolle comam, Horrebitq; eademq; dabit mox signa doloris Frons umbrosa comis, & sine crine caput. Si mors atra gregem, sata si violaverit Eurus, Vel tibi Croese potens, vel miser Ire tibi; Non tantum querulo gemitum dabit ore colonus, Cui servat totas unus agellus opes; Iste potens dominus, multis ditissimus arvis, Hinc quoque, vel toto pectore, maestus erit. Quò nos sacra fames? quò nos rapit ardor habendi? Cur toties miseros anxia vita facit? Non servant homini vel multa talenta quietem, Damna pari luctu dives inopsque gemunt. Ergo mihi positis mens expergiscere curis, Atque alio tandem gaudia quære loco.

TranslationAI-generated

Pull a few hairs from a shaggy forehead, and at the same time take away the hair from a bald crown: both the brow shadowed with locks and the head without hair will shudder and will straightway give the same signs of pain. If black death ravages the flock, or the east wind the crops — whether yours, mighty Croesus, or yours, wretched Irus — not only will the peasant groan with complaining mouth, he for whom a single small field keeps all his wealth; that mighty lord too, most rich in many acres, will be grieved by this with his whole heart. Where does the accursed hunger drive us? Where does the passion for possessing carry us? Why does an anxious life so often make us wretched? Even many talents do not keep a man at peace; rich and poor bewail their losses with equal grief. Therefore, my soul, lay aside your cares and awake, and seek your joys at last in another place.

CommentaryAI-generated

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

En op dat ick niemant verlegen en soude laten / die de tale niet en verstaet / soo wil ick in't neder-lants ten naesten by seggen /'tgene al-reede in't latijn gedaen is.

And so that I may leave no one at a loss who does not understand the language, I will say in Dutch, as nearly as may be, what has already been done in Latin.

Ick schaffe dan hier mede dese en diergelijcke huwelicken af / en meyne dattet verre de soetste t'samen-komsten zijn / die uyt een onderlinge en soete toe-ghenegentheyt geschieden / gegrondet niet op rijckdom of andere diergelijcke uyt wendige dingen / maer op een soete over-een-komste / in oprechte deugdsaemheyt ende ghelatenheyt: Lieflick en schoon zijn is niets; een vrouwe die den Heere vreest sal men loven, seyt de wijse-man Prov. 31.30. Maer nu weder totte sake; Isset een wedduwe met voor-kinderen die ghy om haer vette gelegentheyt verkiest / 'tis dies maer te erger;

I therefore hereby do away with these and similar marriages, and hold that by far the sweetest unions are those which arise from a mutual and sweet inclination, founded not on riches or other such outward things, but on a sweet agreement, in sincere virtue and modesty: 'To be lovely and beautiful is nothing; a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised,' says the wise man, Prov. 31:30. But now back to the matter; if it is a widow with children from a former marriage, whom you choose for her fat circumstances, it is only so much the worse.

Vidua sua & aliena vitia, in dotem adferre dicitur.

A widow is said to bring both her own faults and another's as her dowry.

Een weduwe brengt veel haer eygen/ ende oock eens anders gebreken ten huwelick.

En 'tis gewis dat in dese gelegentheyt

Kinderen Hinderen.

De Frans-man seyt wel /

A widow brings into the marriage many of her own faults, and another's as well. And it is certain that in this case: Children hinder. The Frenchman says rightly:

Maison faicte, & femme a faire.

A house ready made, and a wife still to be made.

Een huys dat is gemaeckt, een vrouwe noch te maken, Dat houdmen over-al voor twee bequame saecken.

A house that is already built, and a wife still to be shaped — these are everywhere held to be two convenient things.

D'agli soupe, é gli amori Gli primi, sono gli megliori.

Of soups and of loves, the first are the best.

Wie trouwen wil, of soppen eten, Dien isset dienstigh dit te weten, Dat d'eerste soppen zijn de beste, En d'eerste trou gaet voor de leste.

Whoever wishes to marry, or to eat sops, it is useful for him to know this: that the first sops are the best, and the first marriage goes before the last.

Soet Geselschap/ dit is de laetste grondt-regel dien ick u/ voor als nu/ op dese gelegentheyt/ weet te geven: duyt ende gebruyckt het gene datter geseyt is ten goede;

Sweet company, this is the last rule which I know how to give you for now on this occasion: interpret and use what has been said for the good.

Wie verstandig is, die laet hem raden, seyt Salomon, Prov. 1. 5.

He who is wise lets himself be advised, says Solomon, Prov. 1:5.

Wat my belangt/ ick die tegenwoordelick (door Godes beschickinge) mijn lief geselschap missen moet/ sal dit leste my toe-eygenen/ ende voor mijne rekeninge op-nemen/ ende daer mede besluyten.

As for me, who at present (by God's ordinance) must do without my dear company, I shall appropriate this last point to myself, and take it upon my own account, and conclude with it.

Hier mede eyndigde Philaretus, en korts daer nae began d'een en d'ander van't geselschap eenige saken op te halen van datter geseyt was, of om breeder verklaringe, ofte om yet daer tegens in te brengen; maer Philaretus 'tselve af-leunende, seyde, dat het voor jonge lieden te langh stil geseten was, en dattet beter ware de leden wat te reppen, en oeffeninge te doen om de mage te scherpen tegens het avont-mael; en daer mede op-staende, en oorlof nemende aende koninginne, wert van de selve inden naem van al het geselschap hoogelick bedanckt, met ernstigh versoeck (al vooren hem sijn af-scheyt te geven) dat hy, 'tgene by hem jegenwoordelick was geseyt, op't papier woude brengen, terwijl hem de memorie noch versch was; op dat soo veel goede en gulde sin-spreucken niet met het op-houden sijner stemme in de lucht en soude komen te verdwijnen, en alsoo verlooren blijven; waer op alsoo by het geselschap seer gestaen wert, is by Philaretus eyndtelick aen-genomen sulcx te doen, en daer op 'tgeselschap sich tot lijf-oeffeningen begevende, is gescheyden.

With this Philaretus ended, and shortly afterwards one and another of the company began to bring up some matters of what had been said, either for fuller explanation or to raise objections; but Philaretus, declining this, said that young people had sat still too long, and that it would be better to stir the limbs a little and take exercise to sharpen the stomach for supper; and so rising, and taking leave of the queen, he was by her, in the name of the whole company, heartily thanked, with the earnest request (before she gave him his leave) that he would put down on paper what had just been said by him, while his memory was still fresh, so that so many good and golden maxims should not vanish into the air when his voice ceased, and thus remain lost; and since the company insisted strongly on this, Philaretus at last undertook to do so, and thereupon the company, betaking itself to bodily exercise, dispersed.

56 Liefdes Kort-sprake.

56 Love's Brief Discourse.

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

46A21 contrast between rich and poorhigh

The plate explicitly juxtaposes a fat, richly fur-robed man with a thin, poorly dressed bald man, which is precisely a 'contrast between rich and poor'.

42D3 marriage, married couple, 'matrimonium'medium

The commentary's whole argument concerns 'marriage, matrimonium' — which unions are sweetest and which should be avoided.

42D43 second marriage (of widow or widower)medium

The text warns against choosing a widow with children from a former marriage, i.e. a 'second marriage (of widow or widower)', adding that the first marriage goes before the last.

42D432 second marriage of widowmedium

Specifically the remarriage of a widow is discussed ('a widow brings her own faults and another's into the marriage'), matching 'second marriage of widow'.

42D42 widowlow

The figure of the 'widow' with children from a previous marriage is a central subject of the commentary, though not depicted.

42D172 dowrylow

The commentary plays on the proverb that a widow brings her own and another's faults 'as her dowry', invoking the notion of dowry.

42D33 happy marriagelow

The passage praises the sweetest unions founded on mutual inclination and virtue rather than riches, i.e. the ideal of a 'happy marriage'.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I vi 74 Croeso, Crasso ditior – thematic inventiomedium

The Latin subscriptio explicitly invokes the proverbial rich man — 'vel tibi Croese potens' — as the type of maximum wealth, set against the beggar Irus, exactly the proverbial figure of riches catalogued by Erasmus under 'Croeso ditior'.

III ii 77 Candidum linum lucri causa ducis – thematic inventiolow

The accompanying Dutch commentary condemns marriages contracted 'om haer vette gelegentheyt' (for a widow's wealth) rather than for virtue, which is precisely the point of Erasmus's adage about marrying an unattractive woman for the sake of her dowry.