
Superbia.
Pride
EMBLEMA LXVII.

En statuae statua,[1] & ductum de marmore marmor,
Se conferre Deis ausa procax Niobe.[2]
Est vitium muliebre superbia, & arguit oris
Duritiem, ac sensus, qualis inest lapidi.
Behold a statue of a statue, marble carved from marble, insolent Niobe, who dared to set herself up against the gods. Pride is a woman’s vice, and shows hardness of face and feeling, such as exists in a stone.
1. According to the best-known story of her fate, Niobe was turned to stone. For the statue of Niobe by Praxiteles, see Ausonius, Epigrams, 63.2 and Anthologia Graeca, 16.130, a much translated epigram, which seems to have been in Alciato’s thoughts here.
2. Niobe in her pride boasted that having 12 (or 14) children, she was superior to Lato with just two, i.e. Apollo and Diana. These gods in revenge slew all her children and in her grief Niobe hardened into a rock; see Ovid, Metamorphoses, 6.165ff. See further, Erasmus, Adagia, 2233, ‘Niobes mala’.
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- boulder, stone [25H1124] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (high) hill [25H113] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- leaning forward (+ nude human being) [31A2321(+89)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- kneeling figure [31A233] Search | Browse Iconclass
- lying figure [31A236] Search | Browse Iconclass
- lying on the back with uplifted upper part of the body [31A2361] Search | Browse Iconclass
- lying on one side, with uplifted upper part of the body and leaning on the arm [31A2364] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward (+ holding something) [31A2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched sidewards [31A2513] Search | Browse Iconclass
- lying with legs raised, stretched out [31A26115] Search | Browse Iconclass
- crawling, going on all fours [31A2712] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flying [31A2762] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation - AA - female human figure [31AA2352] Search | Browse Iconclass
- lying figure - AA - female human figure [31AA236] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flying - AA - female human figure [31AA2762] Search | Browse Iconclass
- violent death by arrow(s) [31E23461] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flight, running away; pursuing [33B9] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown (+ men's clothes) [41D211(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown (+ women's clothes) [41D211(+82)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- archer's weapons: bow and arrow (+ handling of weapons) [45C15(BOW AND ARROW)(+63)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- aggressive, unfriendly activities and relationships of Apollo [92B34] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Apollo (with NAME) [92B38(BOW AND ARROW)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (story of) Diana (Artemis) aggressive, unfriendly activities and relationships [92C34] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Diana (with NAME) [92C38(BOW AND ARROW)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Apollo and Diana kill Niobe's children [95B(NIOBE)62] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Niobe changed into stone: in her grief for the loss of her children, Niobe is changed into a stone (Ovid, Metamorphoses VI 305) [97FF5] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- kinds of non-precious stone (with NAME) [25D12(MARBLE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- femininity [31A721] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Audacity, Temerity; 'Audacia' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A82(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Pride, Loftiness; 'Alterezza in persona nata povera civile' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57AA64(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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