Link to an image of this page [B1r]
VIRTUTI FORTUNA COMES.
Good fortune attendant on virtue
Anguibus implicitis geminisque caduceus[1] alis,
Inter Amaltheae cornua[2] rectus adest.
Link to an image of this page [B1v]Pollentes sic mente viros, fandique peritos,
Indicat, ut rerum copia multa beet.
The caduceus, with entwined snakes and twin wings, stands upright between the horns of Amalthea. It thus indicates how material wealth blesses men of powerful intellect, skilled in speaking.
1. This was the herald’s staff, attribute of Mercury, god of eloquence, intellectual pursuits and financial success. The entwined serpents are a symbol of peace. See Pliny Natural History 29.12.54. The caduceus was Alciato’s personal device and was carved on his tomb at Pavia.
2. Amalthea was the she-goat that suckled the infant Jupiter. Her horn became the cornucopia, the horn of plenty. See Erasmus, Adagia 502, Copiae cornu.
Related Emblems
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Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- animals (+ wings of an animal) [25F(+342):25F(+154)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- snakes (+ symmetrically placed ornamental animals, divided by a (human) figure or an object) [25F42(+154)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- snakes (+ animal with tongue stuck out) [25F42(+57321)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- fruits [25G21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sceptre, staff (symbol of sovereignty) [44B192] Search | Browse Iconclass
- caduceus (staff with two snakes, attribute of Mercury) [92B58(CADUCEUS)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Eloquence; 'Eloquenza', 'Fermezza & Gravità dell'Oratione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52D3(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Success; 'Evento buono' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54F1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Luck, Fortune, Lot; 'Fato', 'Fortuna', 'Fortuna aurea', 'Fortuna buona', 'Fortuna pacifica overo clemente', 'Sorte' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54F12(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Virtuousness; 'Amor di Virtù', 'Attione virtuosa', 'Guida sicura de' veri honori', 'Virtù', 'Virtù insuperabile' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57A6(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- 'Cornucopia', Horn of Plenty [92B11221] Search | Browse Iconclass
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