Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 112
Il sarro chi no fa nodo perde il puntoItalian
The tailor who makes no knot loses his stitch.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
An oval medallion set in an ornamental rectangular frame. On the left, under an open-fronted shop roof, a tailor sits cross-legged on a broad work-table; he holds a piece of cloth in his lap and raises his right hand high, drawing a long thread with a needle. Behind him an apprentice boy in a wide-brimmed hat sits on the same table working on a garment; finished clothes (a doublet, breeches/hose) hang from a rail at the back of the shop, and a large bale or bundle of cloth lies at the left. A small dog sits on the ground beneath the table. At the right, a well-dressed gentleman in a broad-brimmed hat, ruff, cloak and wide breeches with ribboned garters walks away along a cobbled street; houses and distant figures of a town are visible in the background.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
De kleer-maker spreeckt Ghy die hier sonder werck gaet dolen achter straten, Hoort wat my daer gebeurt, het sal u mogen baten, Leert van een snijder wat, al is het ambacht slecht, „ Een dwaes heeft menigmael sijn wijser onder-recht. Ick ben te deser uyr niet al te wel geschoren, 'k En hadt geen knoop geleyt, dus is mijn steeck verloren; Mijn haest heeft my vertraegt, dit spijt my wonder seer, Dan hier schuylt evenwel een gront tot goede leer; Siet wie dat eenigh dingh met vrucht begeert te plegen, Die moet, eer hy begint, sijn gronden over-wegen, Hy moet niet inder yl gaen vallen aen het werck, Niet doen in sijn bedrijf, als op een vast gemerck; Want al wie metter haest yet poogen aen te vangen Die krijgen int gemeen een paer beschaemde wangen; Nu vrient, gaet uwes weegs, maer let op mijnen raet, En maeckt, al-eer ghy naeyt, te knoopen uwen draet.
TranslationAI-generated
The tailor speaks You who wander here through the streets without work, hear what happened to me there, it may profit you; learn something from a tailor, lowly though the craft may be — a fool has often taught his better. I have not come off too well at this hour: I had laid no knot, so my stitch is lost; my haste has delayed me, which grieves me greatly, yet there lies hidden here a ground for a good lesson. See: whoever wishes to undertake anything with profit must, before he begins, weigh his grounds; he must not fall upon the work in a rush, nor do anything in his business except according to a sure mark; for all those who try to take hold of something in haste commonly get a pair of shamed cheeks. Now, friend, go your way, but heed my advice, and see that you knot your thread before you sew.
CommentaryAI-generated
3 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Haestigheyt.
Het spreeck-vvoort leert datmen alle saecken met omsichticheyt, en niet inder haest moet ter hant nemen, daer toe noch een ander spreeck-vvoort ( mede ontleent van't snijders ambacht ) kan vverden ghevoegt, te vveten: Mesure trois fois, avant que tailler une fois. dat is: Meet driemaels eer ghy eens af-snijt. Een ander genomen van de voer-lieden: Eer ghy voort rijt/ soo siet nae het lint-yser. Hier toe dienen dan de volgende spreucken ende spreeck-vvoorden: Hoogd. Hab rath vor der that Eh wägs den wags. Ital. Pensa prima, è poi fa. Hoogd. Schneller rath/ viel rewen had. Franç. Ne romp l'œuf mollet, Si ton pain n'est prest. Nederl. De keerse die voor gaet licht best. Spaens. Quien mal inhorna sara los panos tuertos. Franç. Qui mal enfourne tire des pains cornus. Nederl. Een haestigh mensch moet op een esel rijden. Lat. Canis festinans cæcos parit catulos. Festina lentè. Nederl. Geen dingen metter haest als vloon te vangen. Lat. Qui nimium properat, serius ille venit. Æmil. Prob. Summæ prudentiæ est, ita præterita agnoscere, ut futuris prospiciatur.
Haste.
The proverb teaches that one should take all matters in hand with circumspection, and not in haste; to which yet another proverb (likewise borrowed from the tailor's trade) may be joined, namely: 'Measure three times before you cut once,' that is: 'Measure three times before you cut once.' Another, taken from the carters: 'Before you drive on, look to the linch-pin.' To this purpose then serve the following sayings and proverbs: German: 'Take counsel before the deed.' 'First weigh it, then dare it.' Italian: 'Think first, and act afterwards.' German: 'Quick counsel, much repentance.' French: 'Do not break the soft-boiled egg if your bread is not ready.' Dutch: 'The candle that goes in front gives the best light.' Spanish: 'He who puts in the oven badly will take out crooked loaves.' French: 'He who ovens badly draws out horned loaves.' Dutch: 'A hasty man must ride on an ass.' Latin: 'The hurrying bitch brings forth blind pups.' 'Make haste slowly.' Dutch: 'Nothing is done in haste except catching fleas.' Latin: 'He who hurries too much arrives the later.' Aemilius Probus: 'It is the highest prudence so to understand the past that provision is made for the future.'
Het beeldt kan zijn een appel-vvijf, ofte een vrouvve die haer met freuyt te verkoopen geneert, rijpe ofte gelaegde mispels aende omstanders vertoonende, ende aldus spreeckende:
The picture may be an apple-woman, or a woman who makes her living by selling fruit, showing ripe or laid-up medlars to the bystanders, and speaking thus:
Tijdt te vervvachten.
Franç. Qui veut faire une porte d'or il y met tous les jours un clou. Nederl. Alle dingh lijt. Meester tijt. Franç. Les ans scavent plus que les livres. Nederl. Met tijdt en stroo worden de mispelen sacht. De tijdt brengt rosen voort. Ital. Chi ha patienza, tordi grassi à un quadrino. Il tempo mitiga ogni gran piaga. Spaens. El tiempo es maestro en todas las artes. Poco à poco hila la vieja el copo. Franç. Peu à peu file la vieille sa quenouille. Griecx. Σπεῦδε βραδέως. Ital. Ben' è frutta dura, che il tempo non matura. Hoogd. Mit viel straichen wirdt der stockfisch lind. Nederl. Metter tijdt rijpt het koren. Die den tijdt verbeyen kan / Van een jongen wort een man. Franç. La continuelle goutiere Rompt la pierre. Engels. A mouse in time maye bite a two a cable. Lat. Si quid rectè factum velis tempori trade. Dies adimit ægritudinem hominibus. Ital. A passo à passo si va lontano. A goccia à goccia si cava la pietra. Nederl. De neerstige hant/ En sparige tant/ Koopt ander luy lant. Aenhouden doet verkrijgen. De stadige jager vangt het wilt. Annus producit non ager. Erasm. 40. Quidquid voles quale sit scire, tempori trade. Seneca.
To await time.
French: He who wants to make a golden door puts a nail in it every day. Dutch: All things yield — Master Time. French: The years know more than books. Dutch: With time and straw the medlars become soft. Time brings forth roses. Italian: He who has patience gets fat thrushes for a farthing. Time soothes every great wound. Spanish: Time is master in all the arts. Little by little the old woman spins her distaff-load. French: Little by little the old woman spins her distaff. Greek: Hasten slowly. Italian: It is indeed a hard fruit that time does not ripen. German: With many blows the stockfish becomes tender. Dutch: In time the corn ripens. He who can wait for time: out of a boy a man is made. French: The continual gutter breaks the stone. English: A mouse in time may bite a cable in two. Latin: If you wish anything to be rightly done, entrust it to time. The day takes away sickness from men. Italian: Step by step one goes far. Drop by drop the stone is hollowed out. Dutch: The diligent hand and the sparing tooth buy other people's land. Persevering obtains. The steady hunter catches the game. 'The year produces, not the field.' Erasmus 40. 'Whatever you would know the quality of, entrust to time.' Seneca.
Iconclass
86(IL SARRO CHI NO FA NODO PERDE IL PUNTO)proverbs, sayings, etc. (IL SARRO CHI NO FA NODO PERDE IL PUNTO)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
47H71tailor, dressmakerhighThe correlate 'tailor, dressmaker' exactly matches the central scene of a tailor at work in his open shop.
31A26129sitting cross-legged, as tailor at workhighThe correlate 'sitting cross-legged, as tailor at work' precisely describes the tailor seated cross-legged on his work-table drawing a thread.
51M12HastehighThe commentary's title and whole argument are about 'Haste' and the warning against acting hastily.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.highThe commentary is an extensive collection of 'proverbs, sayings, etc.' in several languages illustrated by the image.
34B11dogmediumA dog is literally depicted sitting on the ground beneath the tailor's table.
47E231apprentice ~ guildmediumThe correlate 'apprentice ~ guild' fits the apprentice boy working alongside the master tailor in the craft shop.
11M41Prudence, 'Prudentia'; 'Prudenza' (Ripa) ~ one of the Four Cardinal VirtueslowThe moral drawn is circumspection, explicitly citing 'the highest prudence', suggesting the virtue Prudentia as the underlying concept, though it is not personified in the image.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II i 1 Festina lente – direct mottohigh
The emblem's Dutch commentary on 'Haestigheyt' explicitly lists 'Festina lentè' among the Latin proverbs, and the companion (medlar) commentary gives the Greek form 'Σπεῦδε βραδέως'; Erasmus's adage is thus quoted verbatim twice as the Latin/Greek equivalent of the tailor's motto about not rushing.
- II ii 35 Canis festinans caecos parit catulos – direct mottohigh
The commentary quotes the adage word for word ('Lat. Canis festinans cæcos parit catulos') as a Latin parallel to the tailor who, hurrying without knotting his thread, botches the work.
- III v 60 Qui nimium properat, serius absoluit – direct mottohigh
The commentary's 'Lat. Qui nimium properat, serius ille venit' is a close variant of Erasmus's adage 'More haste less speed'; the subscriptio's 'Mijn haest heeft my vertraegt' ('my haste has delayed me') states exactly its sense.
- II iii 70 Antequam incipias, consulta – thematic inventiohigh
The moral of the subscriptio — 'whoever wishes to undertake anything must, before he begins, weigh his grounds' — is precisely Erasmus's adage; moreover Cats closes with an Aemilius Probus maxim on foresight, and Erasmus's essay on this adage likewise cites Aemilius Probus (Datames, who 'was accustomed to think before taking action').
- I viii 94 Multis ictibus dejicitur quercus – thematic inventiohigh
The companion emblem's subscriptio ('though an oak trunk stands rooted deep, it falls nonetheless if one keeps striking long') reproduces Erasmus's adage on persistence felling the oak, alongside the dripping stone and gnawing mouse images of patient perseverance.
- III iii 3 Assidua stilla saxum excavat – thematic inventiohigh
The medlar emblem's commentary and subscriptio give 'A goccia à goccia si cava la pietra', 'La continuelle goutiere rompt la pierre' and 'Een key wert uyt-geholt daer staege droppels leecken', which are vernacular forms of Erasmus's adage on the steady drop hollowing the stone.
- I i 44 Annus producit, non ager – direct mottohigh
The commentary to the medlar emblem explicitly cites 'Annus producit non ager. Erasm. 40', naming Erasmus's adage as authority for the power of time (rather than mere soil/effort) to bring things to ripeness.
- III i 53 A fronte atque a tergo – thematic inventiolow
The closing maxim 'Summæ prudentiæ est, ita præterita agnoscere, ut futuris prospiciatur' expresses the same prudence of looking backward and forward at once that Erasmus's adage conveys, though without textual borrowing.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem112
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem112
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288