Link to an image of this page [D1v p50]
Ocni effigies, de his qui meretricibus donant, quod
in bonos usus verti debeat.[1]
A representation of Ocnus. On those who give to whores what should be turned to good
XVII.
Impiger haud cessat funem contexere sparto,
Humidaque artifici iungere fila manu.
Sed quantum multis vix torquet strenuus horis,
Protinus ignavi ventris asella vorat.
Foemina iners animal, facili congesta marito
Lucra rapit, mundum prodigit inque suum.
Ocnus never stops busily plaiting rope from broom, joining the damp fibres with skilful hand. But what he manages to spin with great effort in many hours the she-ass, a beast with greedy guts, continuously consumes. - Woman, an idle creature, grabs the accumulated savings from her complaisant husband and squanders it on her own adornment.
Link to an image of this page [D2r p51]
Das bild des Ocnus, wider die jhe-
nen, so den huren schencken, das
wol anzulegen wer.
XVII.
Ocnus het vil arbeyt und pein
Strick zu dreyen, reichtt sich doch nicht,
Dann in kurtz fraß die eslin sein,
Alls daran er lang dreyt und richt.
Soelchs heut zu tag man auch noch sicht,
So ein faul, boß, unheußlich weyb
Was der man gwingt, als offt geschicht,
Verbrast, oder henckt an den leyb.
1. The painting by Polygnotus depicting this scene is described in Pausanias, Periegesis 29.2. See also Propertius, Elegies 4.3.21; Erasmus, Adagia 383, Contorquet piger funiculum. Ocnus, idleness personified, was a proverbial example of wasted effort.
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- animals eating and drinking [25F(+45)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- two persons [31A(+72)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched sidewards (+ holding something) [31A2513(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- one leg in front of the other, walking position (+ standing) [31A26211(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- drawing, pulling something [31A2747] Search | Browse Iconclass
- pushing something [31A2748] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beard [31A534] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown (+ men's clothes) [41D211(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head-gear (+ men's clothes) [41D221(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clothing for the upper part of the body (+ men's clothes) [41D223(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trousers, breeches (+ men's clothes) [41D231(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- gear for legs and feet (+ men's clothes) [41D233(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- ass, donkey (+ animals eating and drinking) [46C13142(+745)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: rope [47D8(ROPE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- spinning (manufacture of yarn) (+ men (labourers)) [47H31(+21)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (ball of) yarn (+ reeds, rushes ~ crafts, industries, agriculture) [47H352(+442)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rope-making [47H41] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Ocnus, usually twisting a cord which is eaten by an ass as soon as it is being made [9.30E+87] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- shrubs (with NAME) [25G31(BROOM)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- whore, prostitute [33C520] Search | Browse Iconclass
- marriage, married couple, 'matrimonium' [42D3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Industriousness, Assiduity; 'Assiduit৬ 'Industria', 'Zelo' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Sluggishness, Inertia; 'Dapocaggine', 'Pigritia' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54AA11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Squandering, Extravagance, Prodigality, Waste; 'Prodigalitৠ(Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [55C11(+4):42D36] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Link to an image of this page [D2v p52]
Virtuti fortuna comes.
Good fortune attendant on virtue
XVIII.
Anguibus implicitis geminis caduceus[1] alis,
Inter Amalthaeae cornua[2] rectus adest.
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.
Link to an image of this page [D3r p53]
Gluck ein geferdt der frombkeyt.
XVIII.
Der stab des Gots Mercurius
Sambt seinen schlangen, federn, huet,
Zwischen den horn des uberfluß,
Unnß offenlich bedeuten thuet,
Das glert, bredte leut, vil guet
Und gelt sollen vor andern han:
Dan die hant ye den rechten muet,
Der landt und leut erhalten kan.
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.
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- Eloquence; 'Eloquenza', 'Fermezza & Gravitàdell'Oratione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52D3(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- 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
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