Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 84
Besogna che il savio porti il matto in spallaItalian
It is necessary that the wise man carry the fool on his shoulder.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within an oval frame (a thick ring with hatched triangular corner-pieces), an old bearded man in a long robe and ruff stands bent forward, carrying on his shoulders a grinning young fool in jester's costume: a cap with donkey-ears and bells, a ruff, puffed sleeves and a belt hung with round bells. The fool raises a marotte (fool's sceptre topped with a small head) in his right hand while his legs dangle at the old man's sides and his shoe sticks out at the right. Behind them is a wide landscape with a river, a town with a large church tower at the left, low wooded banks and small sailing boats at the right, under a cloudy sky with flying birds.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Ghy siet dit selsaem beelt, en schijnter in te dolen, Maer wattet seggen wil dat is u noch verholen; Ghy siet een deftich man die buyght sijn ouden neck, En die gedragen wort dat is een jonge geck. Ghy seght dat in de Schrift dit anders wort gelesen, En dat een dwaes behoort eens wijsens knecht te wesen; * Ghy segt, uyt Godes woort, dat jae het jeuchdigh bloet Den ouden eere doen, en onder-stutten moet. Ghy vraeght dan hoe het komt, en watter is te seggen, Dat wy hier, tegen recht, verkeerde gronden leggen; Ghy staet hier op en dut, ghy staet gelijck verbaest, En stelt genoeghsaem vast als dat de schrijver raest; Wel, vrient, ontfangt eé woort, tot antwoort uwer vragé, » Tis wijse lieden werck een geck te konnen dragen; Men segge watmen wil, ten is geen deftich man Die met gebogen hals geen dwasen lijden kan.
TranslationAI-generated
You see this strange picture, and you seem to be at a loss about it, but what it means is still hidden from you; you see a dignified man who bends his old neck, and he who is being carried is a young fool. You say that in Scripture this is read otherwise, and that a fool ought to be the servant of a wise man; you say, out of God's word, that indeed young blood must honour the old and support them. You then ask how it comes about, and what is to be said, that we here, against what is right, lay down perverse principles; you stand here brooding over it, you stand as if astonished, and are about ready to conclude that the writer is raving. Well, friend, receive one word in answer to your question: "It is wise men's business to be able to carry a fool;" let people say what they will, he is no dignified man who cannot bear fools with a bowed neck.
CommentaryAI-generated
14 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
* Een dwaes moet der wijsen knecht zijn. Prov. 11. 29.
* A fool must be the servant of the wise. Proverbs 11:29.
Nederl. Die wijs is draeght de sotten / Schoon datse met hem spotten.
Dutch: He who is wise bears with fools, even though they mock him.
Engels. Wise men are at peace with al the worlt.
English: Wise men are at peace with all the world.
Ital. Bisogna che 'l savio porti il matto sopra ispalla.
Italian: It is necessary that the wise man carry the fool upon his shoulder.
Franç. Il faut que le sage porte le fol sur ses espaules.
French: The wise man must carry the fool upon his shoulders.
Publici mores & humana vitia placidé accipienda. Lat.
Latin: Public manners and human vices are to be taken calmly.
Leid vnd meid. Hoogd.
High German: Suffer and forbear.
Sustine & abstine. Lat.
Latin: Bear and forbear.
Patientza è la Chiave della allegrezza. Ital.
Italian: Patience is the key of gladness.
Theod. de Kempis de Imitatione Christi. cap. 16.
Thomas à Kempis, On the Imitation of Christ, chapter 16.
Waren alle menschen volkomen/ wat hadden wy dan om Gods wille van malkanderen te lijden? Godt heeftet also geschickt / dat wy malckanders swackheden hebben te draghen/ want niemant en is sonder ghebreck / en niemant leefter sonder lijden.
If all men were perfect, what then should we have to suffer from one another for God's sake? God has so ordained it that we have to bear one another's weaknesses, for no one is without fault, and no one lives without suffering.
2. Corinth. 11. 18. Ghy verdraeght geerne de onwijse/ dewijle ghy wijs zijt.
2 Corinthians 11:18. You gladly bear with the unwise, seeing that you are wise.
Rom. 15. 1. Die sterck zijn/ zijn schuldigh der swacken kranckheden te dragen.
Romans 15:1. Those who are strong are bound to bear the infirmities of the weak.
Syrach. 22. 18. Het is lichter sant/ sout/ en yser te dragen / dan eenen onverstandigen mensche.
Sirach 22:18. It is lighter to bear sand, salt and iron than an unintelligent man.
Iconclass
86(BESOGNA CHE IL SAVIO PORTI IL MATTO IN SPALLA)proverbs, sayings, etc. (BESOGNA CHE IL SAVIO PORTI IL MATTO IN SPALLA)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
31B9wise men versus foolshighThe correlate 'wise men versus fools' exactly matches the paired figures of the grave bearded elder carrying the bell-capped jester, illustrating 'the wise man must carry the fool upon his shoulders'.
31B7wise manmediumThe old bearded man in robe and ruff who patiently bears the fool embodies the 'wise man' of the mottoes and biblical quotations.
52AA51Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa)mediumThe grinning youth in jester's costume with donkey-eared cap, bells and marotte is the standard personification of Folly/Foolishness.
57A72Tolerance, Long-suffering; 'Longanimità', 'Toleranza' (Ripa)mediumThe mottoes 'Suffer and forbear' / 'Bear and forbear' and the exhortation to bear with the unwise express Tolerance and Long-suffering.
54A44Patience; 'Patienza' (Ripa)mediumThe commentary's 'Patience is the key of gladness' and the theme of patiently enduring others' faults correspond to the virtue Patience.
11V85bearing injustice patiently ~ one of the (seven) spiritual Acts of MercylowThe idea of bearing one another's weaknesses and mockery calmly echoes the spiritual act of mercy 'bearing injustice patiently', though no explicit mercy iconography is shown.
86(...)proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)mediumThe image illustrates a stated proverb with text ('The wise man must carry the fool upon his shoulders'), fitting 'proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)'.
71Y1the book of ProverbslowThe commentary's lead citation is from the book of Proverbs (11:29), though the scene is not a biblical narrative.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II vii 13 Sustine et abstine – direct mottohigh
The emblem's commentary explicitly lists "Sustine & abstine. Lat." (with the German equivalent "Leid vnd meid") as the Latin proverbial equivalent of the Italian motto, which is exactly Erasmus's adage ἀνέχου καὶ ἀπέχου / Sustine et abstine, whose first half (bearing adversity patiently) is the emblem's whole moral of carrying the fool on one's shoulders.
- I x 66 Indus elephantus haud curat culicem – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus applies this adage to the principle that 'slight and casual injuries should be overlooked by lofty minds', which matches the emblem's point that the wise man must patiently bear fools and their mockery, though there is no textual borrowing or shared imagery.
- II ix 56 Omnia sapientibus facilia – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus glosses this as 'nothing is so painful that a wise man cannot endure it easily and with resignation', which parallels the subscriptio's claim that 'it is wise men's business to be able to carry a fool'; the link is conceptual only.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem084
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem084
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288