Single Emblem View

« Previous EmblemNext Emblem »
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [i3v p134]

ἀντέρως, id est, amor virtu-
tis.

Anteros, that is, love of virtue

LXXXI.

Cupid sitting on the ground holding garlands but minus his bow and arrows.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Dic ubi sunt incurvi arcus? ubi tela Cupido?
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [i4r p135]Mollia queis iuvenum figere corda soles.[1]
Fax ubi tristis? ubi pennae? tres unde corollas
Fert manus: unde aliam tempora cincta gerunt?
Haud mihi vulgare [=vulgari] est, hospes cum Cypride quicquam
Ulla voluptatis nos neque forma tulit.
Sed puris hominum succendo mentibus ignes
Disciplinae, animos astraque ad alta traho.
Quattuor eque ipsa texo virtute corollas.[2]
Quarum quae Sophiae est, tempora prima tegit.

Tell me, where are your arching bows, where your arrows, Cupid, the shafts which you use to pierce the tender hearts of the young? Where is your hurtful torch, where your wings? Why does your hand hold three garlands? Why do your temples wear a fourth? - Stranger, I have nothing to do with common Venus, nor did any pleasurable shape bring me forth. I light the fires of learning in the pure minds of men and draw their thoughts to the stars on high. I weave four garlands out of virtue’s self and the chief of these, the garland of Wisdom, wreathes my temples.

COMMENTARIA.

Alloquitur cupidinem interrogando qua-
re praeter morem solitum hic videatur, ubi re-
liquerit arcum & tela sua quibus mallia iuve-
num corda transfigit, ubi ignis ille vehemens
quo eorum animos accendit, ubi alae celeres
quibus inconstans omnia loca penetrat, quid
imò sibi velint tres illae coronae in brachio,
atque etiam quarta capiti suo imposita? Re-
spondit Amor se non esse cupidinem illum
venereum & voluptatum, quin potius alterum
amorem honestum, alii libidinoso prorsus ini-
micum, sed inflammare se puras hominum men
tes igne disciplinarum & virtutum, illorumque
ingenia ad sydera usque perpetuo nomine eve-
here, hoc ipsum significare coronas illas con
textas, quarum ea quae capiti iniecta est desi-
gnare sapientiam (Philosophia autem com-
paratur) quae primo amplectenda, cui reliquae
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [i4v p136]tres adherent & subsequuntur, ut puta Forti-
tudo, Temperantia, & Iustitia: de quibus ele-
ganter Seneca in libro de quatuor virtutibus
cardinalibus: & Macrobius in libro de somnio
Scipionis, refert Plotini Philosophi elegan-
tem harum virtutum distributionem.

Notes:

1.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 16.201.

2.  ‘I weave four garlands out of virtue’s self’, a reference to the four cardinal virtues, justice, temperance, courage and wisdom.

« 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  [G5r p105]

La figura de la Esperança.

TERCETOS.

Dialogo. Lettor. Esperança.

Group of statues. Two women, one sitting holding a snake, one standing holding a staff. One child and a man holding a cup and a sheaf of corn.
[Click on image to enlarge]

L. Quien eres tu que a’l cielo estas alçada?
Con que pinzel fue fecha tu figura?
E. Elpidio[1] me pintò. yo soy llamada
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [G5v p106] La Esperança que no ay cosa dura
Que facil no la buelva y la enternezca.
L. Por que hizo verde (di) tu vestidura?
E. No ay cosa que por mi no reverdezca.
L. Por que las flechas de la Muerte ayrada
Quebradas traes?[2] E. Porque a’l bivo crezca
Solamente Esperança, que acabada
La vida, que esperar acà no queda.
L. En la tinaja por que estàs sentada?
E. Volando el mal yo sola estuve queda:
Como lo canta d’el Ascręo la Musa.[3]  [M]
L. Que ave es esa (di) tan mansa y leda?
E. Es la Corneja[4], que contino usa
El dar buena Esperança, por que quando
No es, dize serà con voz confusa.
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [G6r p107] L. Quien son los que te estan acompañando?
E. Cobdicia y Buen succeso,[5] y van delante
Los que velando estan, y estan soñando.
L. Quien es esotra que con faz constante
Te mira y te acompaña y junta viene?
E. Es la que venga el mal en un instante,  [M]
Y solo da à sperar lo que conviene.

[Marginalia - link to text]Hesiodo.

[Marginalia - link to text]Nemesis.

Notes:

1.  Elpidius is an invented name derived from Greek ἐλπίς, ‘hope’.

2.  For Death’s arrows cf. [A49a065], [A49a066].

3.  See Hesiod, Opera et dies 90ff. for the story of Pandora’s box or jar

4.  The crow was a bird of prophecy and an emblem of hope. Its caw was interpreted as cras, cras, ‘tomorrow, tomorrow’. Cf. the proverb, Quod hodie non est, cras erit: ‘What is not today shall be tomorrow.’

5.  Bonus Eventus or Bonne Aventure, cf. Evento Buono in Ripa, Iconologia; also called ‘Success’ or ‘Happy Ending’.

« 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