Geffrey Whitney, A choice of emblemes (Leiden, 1586)

Emblem 54

A bull and an elephant are frightened by a red and a white rag, the lion by the crowing cock; in the background a stag is running away

Fortissima minimis interdum ceduntLatin

The strongest sometimes yield to the smallest

Interpretation: Bull and elephant
Interpretation (German): Schwächem des Mächtigen

Subscriptio

Facsimile page — Facsimile; click the page to enlarge

TranscriptionAI-generated

THE scarlet cloathe, dothe make the bull to feare. The culler white, the Olephant dothe shunne. The crowinge cocke, the Lion quakes to heare. The smoke of cloathe, dothe make the stagge to runne. All which doe showe, wee no man shoulde dispise, But thinke howe harme, the simplest maie deuise.

TranslationAI-generated

The scarlet cloth makes the bull afraid. The elephant shuns the colour white. The lion trembles to hear the crowing cock. The smoke of cloth makes the stag run away. All of which show that we should despise no man, but consider what harm the simplest may contrive.

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Aelian. De varia historia lib 6. cap. 22. Ouid. 2. Remed. Amoris Parua necat morsu spatiosum vipera taurum: A cane non magno sæpe tenetur aper.

Aelian, Various History, book 6, chapter 22. Ovid, Remedies of Love 2: A small viper kills a huge bull with its bite; a boar is often held fast by a dog that is not large.

Notes and related emblems

Related emblem in another book: embmne_sam1569_emblem169

Iconclass

22C4(RED) colours, pigments, and paints: red
22C4(WHITE) colours, pigments, and paints: white
25F23(LION)39:31A234 ?❧squatting, crouching figure
25F23(LION)39:31A32 ?❧hearing, listening (one of the five senses)
25F24(STAG)(+52) hoofed animals: stag (+ movements of animal(s))
25F25(ELEPHANT)(+49) trunked animals: elephant (+ audible means of communication of animal(s): roaring, crying, singing, barking, mewing, neighing, chirping, etc.)
25G11 groups of trees
25H11 mountains
25I12 prospect of city, town panorama, silhouette of city
31AA2512(+933) arm stretched forward - AA - both arms or hands (+ holding something)
31A2621 one leg in front of the other
31A534 beard
31D14(+72) adult man (+ two persons)
34B232(+51) fowl (cock, hen, chicken, etc.) (+ male animal)
34B232(+949) fowl (cock, hen, chicken, etc.) (+ audible means of communication of animal(s): roaring, crying, singing, barking, mewing, neighing, chirping, etc.)
34FF1
41D211(+81) dress, gown (+ men's clothes)
47H6 textile fabric, cloth
47I2111(+949) bull (+ audible means of communication of animal(s): roaring, crying, singing, barking, mewing, neighing, chirping, etc.)
51GG1(+4):54A7(+4) Littleness, Smallness (+ emblematical representation of concept)❧Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generosità dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virtù del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)
53C11(+4) Authority, Power; 'Dominio', 'Giurisdittione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)
54AA7(+4) Weakness, Powerlessness, Helplessness; 'Infermità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)
56DD1(+4) Fear, Dread; 'Paura', 'Timidità o Timore', 'Timore' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)
86(FORTISSIMA MINIMIS INTERDUM CEDUNT) proverbs, sayings, etc. (FORTISSIMA MINIMIS INTERDUM CEDUNT)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

25F25(ELEPHANT) trunked animals: elephanthigh
The correlate 'trunked animals: elephant' directly matches the elephant standing beside a tree at the left of the scene.
25F24(STAG) hoofed animals: staghigh
The correlate 'hoofed animals: stag' matches the stag leaping in the middle distance.
47I2111 bulllow
The correlate 'bull' names the animal shown with lowered head in the centre, though this code belongs to a cattle-husbandry context rather than a plain animal depiction.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I vi 40 Leonem larva terres – essay quotemedium
Erasmus' essay on this adage quotes Pliny that the lion, 'this great and savage animal,' is terrified by wheels and empty chariots, 'even more by the crests and the crowing of cocks, and most of all by fire' — exactly the lore behind Whitney's line 'The crowinge cocke, the Lion quakes to heare' and the cock perched beside the recumbent lion in the plate.
III v 7 Habet et musca splenem – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's moral — 'wee no man shoulde dispise, / But thinke howe harme, the simplest maie deuise' — is precisely Erasmus' point that even the tiniest creature has its gall and can injure, which he supports with the same kind of small-beast-harms-great exempla (cf. the viper killing the bull in the quoted Ovid).
I iii 49 Hinnulus leonem – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus' adage covers the paradox of a far weaker creature overcoming a far stronger one (fawn over lion), which is the general sense of 'Fortissima minimis interdum cedunt'; the picture's lion and leaping stag give a visual echo, though Whitney quotes Aelian and Ovid rather than this adage.

Sources

Record ID: embstma_1667_emblem054
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1667_emblem054
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1667