Single Emblem View

« Previous EmblemNext Emblem »
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I4r p135]

Receptateurs d’homicides.

XCIIII.

A man with a stag's head and foot lies on the ground. Beside him is a spear and he is being attacked by three dogs.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Gents apres toy avec espees,
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I4v=p136] (Dont plusieurs ont gaigné le pendre,
Ou d’avoir oreilles couppees)
Te font cornes au chef estendre:
Mais il t’en pourra ainsi prendre,
En nourrissant tels ruffiens,
Qu’à Acteon, qui (faict Cerf tendre)
Fut mangé par ses propres chiens.[1]

commentaires.

Alciat a faict cest embleme contre un qu’il ap-
pelle Scaeva en son epigramme Latin. Il l’accompare
à Acteon, fils d’Aristee, lequel estant merveilleuse-
ment addonné à la chasse, nourrissoit plusieurs chiens
en sa maison. Un jour, apres s’estre bien lassé &
travaillé à la chasse, il arriva à une fontaine fort ca-
chee pour s’y laver & recreer. Mais de malheur il y
rencontra Diane, Deesse de la chasse, & de chasteté,
& amie de la solitude, accompagnee de quelques unes
de ses nymphes, qui se lavoyent toutes nues en ladite
fontaine. Estans irritees contre luy, de ce qu’il les a-
voit surprises ainsi nues, elles luy jecterent de l’eau,
peut estre non sans quelque imprecation, si que le
povre Acteon commença à prendre cornes & à de-
venir cerf tout à faict: tellement que voulant retour-
ner à sa maison, ses propres chiens le deschirerent &
devorerent. Ainsi void on souvent, que plusieurs s’e-
stiment grands Seigneurs, liberaux, & magnanimes,
pource qu’ils nourrissent, fomentent, & ont ordinai-
rement à leur suite des larrons, meurtriers, desloyaux,
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I5r p137] & autres semblables garnements: mais tant s’en faut
que celà les annoblisse, qu’au contraire ils se peuvent
asseurer, que tost ou tard ces gents de meschante vie
les ruineront de corps & de biens, ne plus ne moins
que les chiens d’Acteon devorerent leur maistre.

Notes:

1.  For the story of Actaeon turned into a stag and killed by his own hounds, see Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138ff. Similarly, the hangers-on will destroy the one who has fed them.

« Previous EmblemNext Emblem »

Related Emblems

Show related emblems Show related emblems

Hint: You can set whether related emblems are displayed by default on the preferences page

Iconclass Keywords

Relating to the image:

Relating to the text:

Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.

Single Emblem View

« Previous EmblemNext Emblem »
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [E4v p72]

In adulatores.

Flatterers

EMBLEMA LIII.

A Chameleon on a branch.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Semper hiat, semper tenuem, qua vescitur, auram,
Reciprocat Chamaeleon[1]:
Et mutat faciem, varios sumitque colores,
Praeter rubrum vel candidum.[2]
Sic & adulator populari vescitur aura,[3]
Hiansque cuncta devorat:
Et solùm mores imitatur Principis atros;
Albi & pudici nescius.

The Chameleon is always breathing in and out with open mouth the bodiless air on which it feeds; it changes its appearance and takes on various colours, except for red and white. - Even so the flatterer feeds on the wind of popular approval and gulps down all with open mouth. He imitates only the black features of the prince, knowing nothing of the white and pure.

Notes:

1.  This creature was supposed to feed only on air, keeping its mouth wide open to suck it in. See Pliny, Natural History 8.51.122. For the chameleon cf. Erasmus, Parabolae pp.144, 241, 252.

2.  ‘except for red and white’. See Pliny, ib.

3.  ‘the wind of popular approval’. This is a common metaphor in Latin, e.g. Horace, Odes 3.2.20, ‘at the behest of the wind of popular approval.’

« Previous EmblemNext Emblem »

Related Emblems

Show related emblems Show related emblems

Hint: You can set whether related emblems are displayed by default on the preferences page

Iconclass Keywords

Relating to the image:

Relating to the text:

Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.

 

Back to top