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

Emblem 141

A sailing-ship in a storm on a rough sea

Subscriptio

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Demetrius Phaler. Tardè aggredere, quod aggressurus sis perseueranter prosequere. Nam vt inquit Greg. lib. 1. Mor. Incassum bonum agitur, si ante vitæ terminum deseratur: Quia frustra velociter currit, qui prius, quàm ad metas venerit, deficit.

Demetrius of Phalerum. Set about it slowly, but what you are about to undertake, pursue perseveringly. For, as Gregory says in book 1 of the Morals: A good work is done in vain if it is abandoned before the end of life: because he runs swiftly to no purpose who fails before he has reached the goal.

Boni gubernatoris est, ventorum se flatibus accommodare: viri autem sapientis, animi affectibus. Arist. apud Stob.

It is the mark of a good helmsman to adapt himself to the blasts of the winds; but of a wise man, to the affections of the mind. Aristotle, in Stobaeus.

Notes and related emblems

• In Alciatus' Emblemata the motto of the emblem is: "Spes proxima"
• Related emblem in another book: embmne_mig1591_emblem043

Iconclass

• 11R3 the course of life symbolized
• 24D stars
• 25H23 sea (seascape)
• 25H2311 wave
• 26A clouds
• 26C winds
• 26C32 storm at sea
• 31A221 head (human)
• 31A2763(+0) floating in the air (+ variant)
• 31B6241 cheeks rounded
• 46C24(+63) sailing-ship, sailing-boat (+ under way, at sea (~ travelling))
• 53A21(+4):54F2(+4) Constancy, Tenacity; 'Costanza', 'Tenacità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)❧Victory (+ emblematical representation of concept)
• 61B2(CORBET, Miles)3 historical person (CORBET, Miles) - other representations to which the NAME of a historical person may be attached (CORBET, Miles)
• 86(CONSTANTIA COMES VICTORIAE) proverbs, sayings, etc. (CONSTANTIA COMES VICTORIAE)
• 97G2(+0) Dioscuri changed into a constellation: in reward of their brotherly love, the Dioscuri are changed into a constellation (+ variant)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

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

• 46C24 sailing-ship, sailing-boathigh

  The correlate 'sailing-ship, sailing-boat' exactly matches the large three-masted sailing ship with billowing sails riding the waves.

• 46C241 sailing-ship's riggingmedium

  'Sailing-ship's rigging' fits the explicitly described bowsprit and visible rigging lines of the vessel.

• 24D starsmedium

  The correlate 'stars' corresponds to the three small stars depicted in the sky at the upper left.

• 53A2 Perseverance, Resolution, Determination; 'Perseveranza' (Ripa)high

  'Perseverance, Resolution, Determination' is the explicit moral of the commentary, which urges pursuing an undertaking perseveringly to the goal.

• 98B(ARISTOTLE) Aristotlelow

  The correlate 'Aristotle' matches the commentary's closing citation of Aristotle on the good helmsman adapting to the winds, though he is not depicted.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

• IV iv 96 Tranquillo quilibet gubernator est – thematic inventiomedium

  The emblem's picture (ship among high waves with a blowing wind-head) and its appended maxim 'Boni gubernatoris est, ventorum se flatibus accommodare' make the same point as this adage: the pilot's skill (and the wise man's constancy) is proved only in storm, not in calm.

• III iii 68 Toto devorato bove in cauda defecit – thematic inventiomedium

  The commentary's Gregory quotation — 'frustra velociter currit, qui prius quàm ad metas venerit, deficit' — expresses exactly the adage's sense of failing just short of the finish after doing the rest of the task.

• I iii 37 Finem vitae specta – thematic inventiomedium

  The subscriptio's voyage of life reaching 'that wished porte' and the Gregory tag 'Incassum bonum agitur, si ante vitæ terminum deseratur' rest on the same commonplace that the whole worth of a life is judged by its end.

• IV vii 5 Filum nevisti, et acu opus est – thematic inventiolow

  Erasmus glosses this adage as 'it is not enough to have begun a task unless you complete it with equal effort', which is precisely the emblem's motto 'Constantia comes victoriae' and the maxim 'quod aggressurus sis perseueranter prosequere'.

• II i 48 Ante mysteria discedere – thematic inventiolow

  The adage's sense — slipping away before the business is finished — matches the emblem's warning against abandoning a good work before life's end; but there is no verbal borrowing.

• I vi 26 Domum cum facis, ne relinquas impolitam – thematic inventiolow

  One of Erasmus' explanations is that a work once begun should not be left half finished lest one be mocked — the same moral of perseverance to completion urged by the emblem's Demetrius and Gregory quotations.

• II i 1 Festina lente – thematic inventiolow

  The emblem's Demetrius maxim 'Tardè aggredere, quod aggressurus sis perseueranter prosequere' (deliberate slowly, then press on steadily) is the practical doctrine Erasmus expounds at length under Festina lente, though no phrase is quoted.

Sources

Record ID: embstma_1667_emblem141
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1667_emblem141
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1667