Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 58
Tale è la cagnuola, quale è la signoriaItalian
As the little bitch is, so is the lady.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a thick oval frame (the frame drawn as a broad dark ring, with ornamental corner triangles filling the square border) a landscape scene. In the centre stands a richly dressed young woman in an embroidered gown with a wide lace ruff and a plumed cap, playing a lute which she holds against her breast. To her left, a small dog with a collar and medallion stands upright on its hind legs, as if walking or dancing, on a path beside water; behind it a village with a church tower and trees. To her right in the background a man wearing a feathered cap embraces and kisses a woman in a ruff and apron, one of his legs thrust forward between hers. Clouds fill the sky, with small flocks of birds at left and right.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
De Kamer-maeght spreeckt Ick hadde lest-mael wat gemalt, En 'tscheen dat Iufvrou dit vernam, En, soo het dan gemeenlick valt, Soo was sy boven maten gram, Sy viel my aen met fellen moet, Sy graeude, dreygde, riep en keef, Iae, door haer ongestuymigh bloet, Soo hietse my staegh, vuyle teef; Ick stont een wijle slecht en keeck, Want ick en vvas niet sonder schult, Doch, mits sy my soo vinnigh streeck, Mist' ick ten lesten mijn gedult; Dies seyd' ick, Iuffer, met verlof, Ghy hebt my vvat te veel geseyt, Ist niet de vvijse van het hof, Gelijck de Iuffer, soo de meyt?
TranslationAI-generated
The chambermaid speaks I had lately made a bit of a mess (daubed something), And it seemed the mistress noticed it, And, as it commonly happens, She was beyond measure angry; She fell upon me with fierce temper, She snarled, threatened, shouted and scolded, Yes, out of her impetuous blood She kept calling me a filthy bitch; I stood a while, simple, and stared, For I was not without blame, But, since she struck at me so sharply, I at last lost my patience; So I said: Mistress, by your leave, You have said somewhat too much to me; Is it not the way of the court, As the mistress is, so is the maid?
CommentaryAI-generated
5 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Franç. Toutte terre côtree & province / Imite la nature de son prince. Turcks. Baluck baschadan kokar. .i. Lat. Piscis primum à capite putet. Ital. Il pesce commincia à putir del capo. Nederl. 'tHooft sieck / al sieck. Lat. A bove majori discit arare minor. Hoogd. Was die alten sungen / Das pfiffen die jungen. Nederl. Soo de klock is / is de klepel / Soo de pot is / is de lepel. Gelijck de weert / soo is de gast / Gelijck het peert / soo is de last. Ital. Tale è la cagnuola, quale è la signora. Lat. Qualis domina, talis catella. Hoogd. Wie die fraw also die magd. Wie der herr also das gesint. Lat. Qualis hera, talis pedissequa. Hoogd. Das wetter kent man beim wind / Den vatter bei seim kind / Und den herrn bei seim gesind. Lat. Qualis rex, talis grex. Ital. Qual è il rettore, tali sono i populi. Quando la patrona follegia / La fante danneggia. Hoogd. Faule eyer / und stinckende butter gehören zu sammen. Ital. Tal carne, qual cortel. Qual guaina tal coltello. Lat. Dignum patella operculum. Similes habent labra lactucas. Hoogd. Disteln seynd des Esels salat kraüter. Ital. Ogni difforme trouva il suo conforme. Lat. Vxor pessima, pessimus maritus / Miror nõ bene cõvenire vobis.
French: Every land, region and province imitates the nature of its prince. Turkish: The fish stinks from the head, that is: Latin: A fish first stinks from the head. Italian: The fish begins to rot at the head. Dutch: If the head is sick, all is sick. Latin: From the older ox the younger learns to plough. High German: What the old ones sang, the young ones piped. Dutch: As the bell is, so is the clapper; as the pot is, so is the spoon. As the host, so the guest; as the horse, so the load. Italian: As the little bitch is, so is the lady. Latin: As the mistress, so her lapdog. High German: As the lady, so the maid; as the master, so the household. Latin: As the mistress, so the waiting-woman. High German: One knows the weather by the wind, the father by his child, and the master by his household. Latin: As the king, so the flock. Italian: As the ruler is, such are the peoples. When the mistress plays the fool, the maidservant does harm. High German: Rotten eggs and stinking butter belong together. Italian: Such meat, such knife. As the sheath, so the knife. Latin: A lid worthy of the dish. The lips have lettuces like themselves (like lips, like lettuce). High German: Thistles are the ass's salad-herbs. Italian: Every misshapen thing finds its match. Latin: A very bad wife, a very bad husband — I wonder that you do not get on well together.
Toutte terre côtree & province Imite la nature de son prince.
Every land, region and province imitates the nature of its prince.
Was die alten sungen Das pfiffen die jungen.
What the old ones sang, that the young ones piped.
Quando la patrona follegia La fante danneggia.
When the mistress plays the fool, the maidservant does harm.
Vxor pessima, pessimus maritus Miror nõ bene cõvenire vobis.
A worst wife, a worst husband: I wonder that you do not agree well together.
Iconclass
86(TALE È LA CAGNUOLA, QUALE È LA SIGNORIA)proverbs, sayings, etc. (TALE È LA CAGNUOLA, QUALE È LA SIGNORIA)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.highThe commentary is a long string of proverbs and sayings ('the fish stinks from the head', 'as the mistress, so her lapdog'), which the image illustrates, matching 'proverbs, sayings, etc.'
86(...)proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)lowThe emblem is built around specific proverb texts, so the generic 'proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)' bracket could be used to record the actual mottoes.
46A24relation between master and servanthighThe proverbs 'As the lady, so the maid; as the master, so the household' and 'As the mistress, such the waiting-woman' concern precisely the 'relation between master and servant', illustrated by the lute-playing mistress and the maid in the background.
46AA24relation between master and servant - AA - bad relationmedium'When the mistress plays the fool, the maidservant does harm' and the maid's illicit embrace in the background depict a bad master-servant relation.
51B6Imitation; 'Imitatione' (Ripa)mediumThe governing idea 'every land, region and province imitates the nature of its prince' is the personified concept of Imitation.
29Aanimals acting as human beingslowThe lapdog standing upright on its hind legs as if dancing to the lute corresponds to 'animals acting as human beings', embodying 'as the mistress, so her lapdog'.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I x 71 Similes habent labra lactucas – direct mottohigh
The emblem's multilingual proverb apparatus quotes the adage verbatim as a Latin equivalent of the motto ('Similes habent labra lactucas'), and even reproduces Erasmus's donkey-and-thistle gloss in the adjacent German line 'Disteln seynd des Esels salat kraüter'.
- I x 72 Dignum patella operculum – direct mottohigh
'Dignum patella operculum' is cited verbatim in the emblem's Latin proverb list, immediately before 'Similes habent labra lactucas' — exactly the order of Adagia I x 71–72, indicating direct borrowing from Erasmus.
- IV ii 97 Piscis primum a capite foetet – direct mottomedium
The commentary's Latin line 'Piscis primum à capite putet' (with its Turkish, Italian and Dutch equivalents) is a close variant of Erasmus's adage that the fish rots from the head, used here for the ruling head corrupting the subordinates.
- I ii 21 Simile gaudet simili – thematic inventiomedium
The second half of the emblem's proverb chain ('Ogni difforme trouva il suo conforme', 'Qual guaina tal coltello', 'Vxor pessima, pessimus maritus') restates Erasmus's like-to-like commonplace, of which 'Simile gaudet simili' is the central adage.
- I ii 20 Aequalis aequalem delectat – thematic inventiolow
Belongs to the same Erasmian 'Similitudinis et congruentiae' cluster that supplies the emblem's governing idea that like pairs with like (mistress and maid, sheath and knife, lid and pan).
- I ii 62 Cascus cascam ducit – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus glosses this adage as 'whenever like delights in like... a cripple in a cripple, a rogue in a rogue', which matches the emblem's closing proverbs 'Ogni difforme trouva il suo conforme' and 'Vxor pessima, pessimus maritus'.
- I x 73 Si juxta claudum habites, subclaudicare disces – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's moral — the chambermaid (and the lapdog) take their manners from the mistress — is the contagion-of-morals idea Erasmus illustrates with living next to a cripple and learning to limp.
- I x 74 Corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia prava – thematic inventiolow
The subscriptio's point that the scolding, 'bitch'-calling mistress has produced an equally coarse maid ('Gelijck de Iuffer, soo de meyt') exemplifies Erasmus's adage that bad company corrupts good character.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem058
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem058
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288