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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [b7r p29]

Paupertatem summis ingeniis obesse
ne provehantur.[1]

Poverty prevents the advancement of the best of abilities

XV.

Figure of boy with wings on one hand and a rock in the other
[Click on image to enlarge]

Dextra tenet lapidem, manus altera sustinet alas:
Ut me pluma levat, sic grave mergit onus.
Ingenio poteram superas volitare per arces,
Me nisi paupertas invida deprimeret.

My right hand holds a rock, the other bears wings. As the feathers lift me, so the heavy weight drags me down. By my mental gifts I could have flown through the heights of heaven, if malign poverty did not hold me back.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [b7v p30]

COMMENTARIA.

Adolescentulus cuidam proponitur, cui ma
nu dextra ponderosus dependet lapis, sinistrae
verò eius, alae affixae sunt levissimae. Utique
hae in altum elevant, sic onus illud grave alia
ex parte deprimit. Ostendens plurimos ob
ingenii felicitatem celebres & claros futuros.
nisi paupertas invida depressos retineret. Est
etenim illa molestum pondus, ut plerique nos-
se nollent, plurium nanque quotidianus est
cibus. Et paupertatis unicum incommodum
habere sapientem dixit Archytas Philosophus.

Notes:

1.  For the sentiment cf. Juvenal, Satires 3.164-5: ‘it is hard for people to rise when straitened circumstances stand in the way of their natural abilities.’

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  • Progression, Forward Movement (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51L4(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Rest, Immobility, Stasis (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51LL1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Regression, Backward Movement (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51LL4(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Talent (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52A13(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Hindrance, Obstruction (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54EE2(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Poverty; 'Povert�', 'Povert� del doni', 'Povert� in uno ch'habbia bell'ingegno' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [55BB1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Ambition; 'Ambitione', 'Amor di Fama' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56F11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass

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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [K2r p147]

In Occasionem.

Opportunity

EMBLEMA CXXI.

Διαλογιστικῶς.

In dialogue form.

A naked woman with winged feet standing on a wheel in the middle of the sea holding a knife in one hand and a scarf in the other.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Lysippi[1] hoc opus est, Sicyon[2] cui patria tu quis?[3]
Cuncta domans capti temporis articulus.
Cur pinnis[4] stas? usque rotor. talaria plantis
Cur retines? passim me levis aura rapit.
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [K2v p148]In dextra est tenuis dic unde novacula? acutum
Omni acie hoc signum me magis esse docet.
Cur in fronte coma? occurrens ut prendar. At heus tu
Dic cur pars calva est posterior capitis?
Me semel alipedem si quis permittat abire,
Ne possim apprenso postmodò crine capi.
Tali opifex nos arte, tui caussa edidit, hospes:
Utque omnes moneam, pergula aperta tenet.

This image is the work of Lysippus, whose home was Sicyon. - Who are you? - I am the moment of seized opportunity that governs all. - Why do you stand on points? - I am always whirling about. - Why do you have winged sandals on your feet? - The fickle breeze bears me in all directions. - Tell us, what is the reason for the sharp razor in your right hand? - This sign indicates that I am keener than any cutting edge. - Why is there a lock of hair on your brow? - So that I may be seized as I run towards you. - But come, tell us now, why ever is the back of your head bald? - So that if any person once lets me depart on my winged feet, I may not thereafter be caught by having my hair seized. It was for your sake, stranger, that the craftsman produced me with such art, and, so that I should warn all, it is an open portico that holds me.

Notes:

1.  Greek sculptor, 4th century BC.

2.  A town west of Corinth.

3.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 16.275. See also Erasmus, Adagia 670, Nosce tempus, where Erasmus too gives a verse translation of the Greek epigram.

4.  ‘on points’. Alciato here agrees with Erasmus, who similarly translates the phrase ἐπ’ ἄκρα, ‘on tiptoe’, in the Greek original. Thomas More translates more obviously with summis digitis. See Selecta epigrammata (Cornarius, ed.) p. 372ff.

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  • male persons from classical history (with NAME) representations to which the NAME of a person from classical history may be attached [98B(LYSIPPUS)3] Search | Browse Iconclass

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