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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [A8v p16]

In Silentium.

Silence

A scholar with a finger to his lips in front of an open book, in a small room
[Click on image to enlarge]

Cųm tacet, haud quicquam differt sapientibus amens,
Stultitiae est index linguaque voxque suae.
Ergo premat labias, digitoque silentia signet,
Et sese Pharium vertat in Harpocratem[1].

When he is silent, the fool differs no whit from the wise. It is tongue and voice that betray his stupidity. Let him therefore put his finger to his lips and so mark silence, and turn himself into Egyptian Harpocrates.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [B1r p17]

A Silence.

Quand ung ignorant ne dit mot,
Il est bien pareil au scavant:
Et nest de saigesse remot,
Sinon quant il parle souvent:
Ta bouche ayt donc le doy devant,
Pour tenir de parler science.[2]
Ou seras Harpocras suyvant,
Dont lymage monstroit silence:

Notes:

1.  Harpocrates, also known as Horus, was the son of the Egyptian divinity Isis. He avenged the murder of his father Osiris by Set/Typhon. He is often represented as an infant with his finger held to his mouth as a sign of silence and economy of words. See Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 68.

2.  The last 3 lines differ significantly from the 1536 edition.

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  • Wisdom; 'Sapienza', 'Sapienza humana', 'Sapienza vera' (Ripa) [52A51] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Ignorance; 'Ignoranza', 'Ignoranza di tutte le cose', 'Ignoranza in un ricco senza lettere' (Ripa) [52AA5] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa) [52AA51] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Taciturnity; 'Secretezza', 'Secretezza overo Taciturnità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52DD3(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass

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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [A3r]

ETIAM FEROCISSIMOS
DOMARI.

Even the fiercest are tamed.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [A3v]

Warrior on carriage drawn by lions.
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Romanum postquām eloquium, Cicerone perempto
Perdiderat[1] patriae pestis acerba suae,
Inscendit currus victor iunxitque leones[2],
Compulit & durum colla subire iugum
Magnanimos cessisse suis Antonius armis,
Ambage hac cupiens significare duces.

After Antony, that grievous bane of his country, had destroyed eloquence by slaying Cicero, he mounted his chariot in triumph and yoked to it lions, forcing their necks to bow to the harsh yoke, desiring by this symbolic act to indicate that great leaders had given way before his military might.

Notes:

1.  ‘had destroyed eloquence by slaying Cicero’. Cicero was considered Rome’s greatest orator - his name was held by many to be synonymous with eloquence itself; see Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 10.1.112. Mark Antony had Cicero murdered in 43 BC in revenge for his scathing attacks in the fourteen ‘Philippic’ orations. See Seneca the Elder, Suasoriae 6.17.

2.  Cf. Pliny, Natural History 8.21.55: Antony was the first to yoke lions to a chariot in Rome...by this unnatural sight giving people to understand that noble spirits were at that time bowing to the yoke.

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