
X.
ΟΥΤ’ ΑΡΕΤΗ ΑΤΕΡ ΟΛΒΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΤΑ:
ETiam si virtutis splendor, suos non aliunde, quąm ą seipsa
radios acquirat, certum tamen est languere virtutem sub
paupere tecto: virumque licet benč natum & institutum, si pau-
pertate prematur, facilč degenerare, & quasi paulatim prolabi
in viam vitiorum: ad quam inducitur, & quasi humeris pro-
truditur[1] indigentia, quae illum apud omnes reddit inglorium
& ridiculum, illius verbis autoritatem adimit & persuasionem;
famam imminuit, & contemptum efficit. Quod seculi corru-
pti contingit iniuria; in quo primum locum obtinent divitiae.
Hae solae virum bonum faciunt, etiamsi vitiis omnibus conta-
minatus sit. Dives quicunque est, statim pius, bonus, nobilis,
illustris & gratiosus omnibus iudicabitur. Opes hodie coelos
aperiunt, inferos claudunt, stultis autoritatem, prophanis ho-
norem conciliant: expugnant urbes, leges corrumpunt, pudi-
citiam ac fidem prostituunt. Nemo bonus est nisi qui bonis
abundat. Multa ingenia candida, integra, & erudita, sive lite-
rarum studiis; sive rei militaris peritia, possent quasi alis ad si-
dera deferri, sed eorum promptitudo compedibus pauperta-
tis in pulvere coercetur; ą quibus moveri, aut sese expe-
dire non possunt, nisi stimulis[2] indigentiae
pungantur.

X.
Othoni Comiti Ringravio.[3]
ΟΥΤ ΑΡΕΤΗ ΑΤΕΡ ΟΛΒΟΥ ΕΠΙCΤΑ.[4]
Nor is virtue without wealth to be trusted
HAud facile emergunt qui paupertate premuntur:
Quos retinet, tanquam compede, tetra fames.
Immodicis opibus virtus non gaudet: at illa
Degeneri sordet subruta pauperie.
Those who are oppressed by poverty cannot easily emerge: filthy hunger holds them back, as if fettered. Virtue does not rejoice in immoderate wealth: but when undermined by base poverty, she is held of no account.
1. Corrected from the Errata.
2. Corrected from the Errata.
3. Otto II von Salm, Count Rhinegrave (1578-1637), the third of three sons of Otto I, Wild- und Rheingraf zu Kyrburg, Graf zu Salm. He has also been identified as Otto, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Duke of Sulzbach (1556-1604), younger brother of Duke Johann I (see emblem 8, [FBOb008]), though the Counts Palatine did not bear the title Rheingraf.
4. The Greek inscriptions in the pictura are from Menander, Sententiae (Jaekel edition, 1964), Monosticha, 752 and 645.
Related Emblems
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Relating to the image:
- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult woman [31D15] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arch, archivolt ~ architecture [48C162] Search | Browse Iconclass
- base (~ column, pillar) [48C1613] Search | Browse Iconclass
- book [49M32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- city-view in general; 'veduta' [25I1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- drapery, draped garment, 'Gewandgebung' [41D27] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown [41D211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flame [41B121] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Greek script [49L13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- hacking and thrusting weapons (with NAME) [45C13(SWORD)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- hunger [41C119] Search | Browse Iconclass
- inscription [49L8] Search | Browse Iconclass
- prisoner; in fetters [44G312] Search | Browse Iconclass
- protective weapons (with NAME) [45C19(SHIELD)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Roman script; scripts based on the Roman alphabet [49L12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation [31A2352] Search | Browse Iconclass
- thin (human type) [32A22] Search | Browse Iconclass
- torch [41B32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- triangle (~ planimetry, geometry) [49D33] Search | Browse Iconclass
- ugly old man [31D162] Search | Browse Iconclass
- wings of an animal [25F(+342)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- hunger [41C119] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Poverty; 'Povertą', 'Povertą del doni', 'Povertą in uno ch'habbia bell'ingegno' (Ripa) [55BB1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Virtuousness; 'Amor di Virtł', 'Attione virtuosa', 'Guida sicura de' veri honori', 'Virtł', 'Virtł insuperabile' (Ripa) [57A6] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Wealth, Opulence; 'Opulenza', 'Richezza' (Ripa) [55B1] Search | Browse Iconclass
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