Emblem 32

Emblem 32

A man with a guilty conscience attacks his own shadow with his sword; Jupiter on his eagle

In poenam sectatur & umbraLatin

For punishment even a shadow is pursued

Interpretation: Murderer and his shadow (for punishment even a shadow is pursued)
Interpretation (German): Slechtes Gewissen

Description of the imageAI-generated

Within an ornamental woodcut border, a half-naked man runs to the right across an open landscape, his cloak flying, looking back over his shoulder with one hand raised in alarm; his long shadow stretches on the ground behind him. In the upper left, amid clouds and rays of light, a winged figure brandishes a torch or firebrand toward him. At the right are hills and a walled town with towers; a small star-dotted sky and clouds above, bushes and a thicket at the lower left.

Subscriptio

Facsimile page — Facsimile; click the page to enlarge

TranscriptionAI-generated

THE wicked wretche, that mischiefe late hath wroughte, By murther, thefte, or other heynous crimes, With troubled minde, hee dowtes hee shalbe caughte, And leaues the waie, and ouer hedges climes: And standes in feare, of euerie busshe, and brake, Yea oftentimes, his shaddowe makes him quake. A conscience cleare, is like a wall of brasse, That dothe not shake, with euerie shotte that hittes: Eauen soe there by, our liues wee quiet passe, When guiltie mindes, are rack'de with fearfull fittes: Then keepe thee pure, and soile thee not with sinne, For after guilte, thine inwarde greifes beginne.

TranslationAI-generated

The wicked wretch who has lately done mischief, by murder, theft, or other heinous crimes, with a troubled mind fears he shall be caught, and leaves the road and climbs over hedges: and stands in fear of every bush and thicket, yea, often his own shadow makes him quake. A clear conscience is like a wall of brass, that does not shake with every shot that hits it: even so by it we pass our lives in quiet, while guilty minds are racked with fearful fits. Then keep yourself pure, and do not soil yourself with sin, for after guilt your inward griefs begin.

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Cato. Conscius ipse sibi de se putat omnia dici.

Ouid. Fast. 1. Conscia mens vt cuique sua est, ita concipit intra Pectora, pro facto spemq́, metumq́ suo.

Cato: The man conscious of guilt thinks everything that is said is said of himself.

Ovid, Fasti 1: As each man's conscience is, so does he conceive within his breast hope or fear, according to his deed.

Iconclass

22C31 radiance emanating from persons or things

25F3(+53) birds (+ postures, positions of animal(s))

25F33(EAGLE)(+53) predatory birds: eagle (+ postures, positions of animal(s))

25G13 groups of plants (herbs)

25G3(+21) trees (+ stem, trunk)

25H11 mountains

25H133 beach

25H23 sea (seascape)

25I12 prospect of city, town panorama, silhouette of city

26A clouds

26C winds

31A2321 leaning forward

31A2352 sitting on an elevation

31A2421 head turned to the left

31A244 head bent forward; bowing

31A2511 arm raised upward

31AA2511 arm raised upward - AA - both arms or hands

31A2513(+922) arm stretched sidewards (+ fighting)

31A2513(+933) arm stretched sidewards (+ holding something)

31A26122 sitting with legs bent, side by side

31A26211(+51) one leg in front of the other, walking position (+ standing)

31A2762(+0) flying (+ variant)

31A28 man and his shadow

31A534 beard

31D14 adult man

41D211(+81) dress, gown (+ men's clothes)

41D27(+81) drapery, draped garment, 'Gewandgebung' (+ men's clothes)

41D91 man (showing himself) undressed, quasi-nude

45C13(SWORD) hacking and thrusting weapons: sword

52B5112(+4):57A3(+4) Bad, Evil, Wrong (+ emblematical representation of concept)❧Conscience; 'Coscienza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

57BB13(+4) Punishment; 'Castigo', 'Pena', 'Punitione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)

86(IN POENAM SECTATUR ET UMBRA) proverbs, sayings, etc. (IN POENAM SECTATUR ET UMBRA)

92B1 (story of) Jupiter (Zeus)

92B18(EAGLE) attributes of Jupiter: eagle

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

57A3 Conscience; 'Coscienza' (Ripa)high

The correlate 'Conscience' directly matches the emblem's theme, explicitly quoting Ovid on how each man's conscience shapes what he feels.

57A43 Sense of Guilthigh

'Sense of Guilt' matches the motto that the man conscious of guilt thinks everything said is said of himself, dramatized by the fleeing figure.

54AA52 Guiltinessmedium

'Guiltiness' as a personified negative quality corresponds to the guilty man pursued by an avenging winged figure.

56DD1 Fear, Dread; 'Paura', 'Timidità o Timore', 'Timore' (Ripa)medium

'Fear, Dread' fits the half-naked man running with hand raised in alarm, looking back in terror at the torch-brandishing figure.

56D Hope and Fearmedium

'Hope and Fear' corresponds to the Ovid passage cited, that conscience conceives 'hope or fear' within the breast according to one's deed.

31A28 man and his shadowmedium

'Man and his shadow' matches the depicted long shadow stretching behind the running man, a key visual element of the plate.

22C8 shadowlow

The generic correlate 'shadow' covers the prominent cast shadow on the ground behind the fleeing figure.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I ii 66 Fures clamorem – thematic inventiohigh

Erasmus' essay describes exactly the emblem's scene: those 'who have a sense of guilt and are afraid of being caught, or who have committed some crime and run away in terror', made 'trembling and light-shunning' by conscience, with the Scriptural tag 'The wicked flee when no man pursueth' — Whitney's fleeing criminal who starts at every bush and at his own shadow.

I x 91 Conscientia mille testes – thematic inventiomedium

The emblem's moral — that no torture punishes like a guilty mind ('guiltie mindes, are rack'de with fearfull fittes') while a clear conscience is a wall of brass — matches Erasmus' point that conscience is the most effective torturer and hangman, 'flogging with silent lash' like the avenging Furies (cf. the torch-brandishing winged fury in the picture).

II vii 79 Lupus ante clamorum festinat – thematic inventiomedium

Erasmus glosses this adage as applying 'when someone knows he has done wrong, and is himself afraid before he is accused' — precisely the emblem's wretch who, having committed murder or theft, flees over hedges in dread before any pursuit exists.