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IN DEO LAETANDUM.
Joy is to be found in God
Aspice ut egregium[1] puerum Iovis alite pictor
Fecerit, Iliacum[2] summa per astra vehi.
Quis ne Iovem tactum puerili credat amore?
Dic haec Maeonius[3] finxerit unde senex?
Consilium mens atque dei cui gaudia praestant,
Creditur is summo raptus adesse Iovis.
See how the illustrator has shown the illustrious Trojan boy being carried through the highest heavens by the eagle of Jove. Can anyone believe that Jove felt passion for a boy? Explain how the aged poet of Maeonia came to imagine such a thing. It is the man who finds satisfaction in the counsel, wisdom and joys of God who is thought to be caught up into the presence of mighty Jove.
1. In later editions the adjective is applied to the painter rather than Ganymede.
2. ‘The Trojan boy’, i.e. Ganymede, son of the Trojan prince, Tros, snatched away by the gods to be Jove’s cup-bearer. See Homer, Iliad 20.232ff, though the eagle is a post-Homeric addition. The Greek motto in the accompanying illustration, gannusthai medesi, means ‘to delight in counsels’, referring to a supposed etymology of the name Ganymedes, for which see Xenophon, Symposium 8.30.
3. ‘The aged poet of Maeonia’, i.e Homer. His place of activity is disputed. Chios or Smyrna is most likely - these are places in the central coastal area of Asia Minor, known as Lydia or Maeonia.
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Relating to the image:
- predatory birds: eagle (+ animal(s) holding something) [25F33(EAGLE)(+5245)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting figure [31A235] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm raised upward (+ indicating, pointing at) [31A2511(+931)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flying (+ variant) [31A2762(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- youth, adolescent [31D12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- man (showing himself) undressed, quasi-nude [41D91] Search | Browse Iconclass
- riding on animal other than horse, ass, or mule (+ sitting on animal with both legs on one side, riding side-saddle) [46C132(+82)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Jupiter: eagle [92B18(EAGLE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- the rape of Ganymede: he is carried off through the air by Jupiter in the form of an eagle, or by the eagle of Jupiter [92BB121] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Deity, God (in general) ~ Christian religion [11A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- 'Sapientia', Wisdom; 'Sapienza divina' (Ripa) ~ one of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost [11E541] Search | Browse Iconclass
- joy, 'Gaudium' ~ one of the seven gifts of the soul [11S7270] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Counsel; 'Consiglio' (Ripa) [52E3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Pleasure, Enjoyment, Joy; 'Allegrezza', 'Allegrezza da le medaglie', 'Allegrezza, letitia e giubilo', 'Diletto', 'Piacere', 'Piacere honesto' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56B1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (story of) Homer [98B(HOMER)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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