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MULIERIS FAMAM NON
formam vulgatam esse
oportere.
A woman’s reputation, not her beauty, should be known to the world.
Alma Venus quae nam haec facies quid denotat illa,
Testudo molli quam pede diva premis?
Me sic effinxit phidias,[1] sexumque referri,
Foemineum nostra iussit ab effigie,
Quodque manere domi & tacitas decet esse puellas,
Supposuit pedibus talia signa meis.
Kindly Venus, what form is this, what does that tortoise mean, on which, o goddess, your soft feet rest? Phidias fashioned me like this. He intended the female sex to be represented by this image of me. Girls should stay at home and keep silence, and so he put such symbols under my feet.
1. Phidias’ statue of Aphrodite with one foot on a tortoise, set up at Elis, is mentioned by Pausanias, Periegesis 6.25.1. The tortoise is a symbol of ideal female domesticity, as it keeps silent and never leaves its house see Plutarch Coniugalia praecepta 32 (Mor. 142).
Related Emblems
Hide related emblems- Declaracion magistral sobre las Emblemas de Andres Alciato (1615), Najera: MULIERIS FAMAM, NON formam, vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1621), Padua: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum liber (6th April, 1531), Augsburg: MULIERIS FAMAM NON formam vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum liber (1534), Augsburg: MULIERIS FAMAM NON formam vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libellus (1534), Paris: Mulieris famam non formam vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Les Emblemes (1539), Paris: Mulieris famam non formam vulgatam esse oportere. La renommee plus que la beaulte de femme est de pris. | Open in other pane
- Les Emblemes (1542), Paris: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. La renommée plus que la beaulté de femme est de pris. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libellus (1542), Paris: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. Das lob einer frawen solle namhafft sein, nit die gestalt. | Open in other pane
- Los Emblemas (1549), Lyon: Que por la fama ha de ser la muger conoçida, no por el gesto. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1550), Lyon: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1551), Lyon: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libri II (Stockhamer) (1556), Lyon: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Toutes les emblemes (1558), Lyon: Publiée soit de la femme Non la beaulté, mais bonne fame. | Open in other pane
- Liber emblematum ... Kunstbuch (1567), Franckfurt am Main: Mulieris famam non formam vulgatam esse oportere. Es sol einer Weibs Zucht und Tugent bekannter seyn, dann ir schöne undgestalt, In frag und antwort. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1591), Leiden: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. | Open in other pane
- Diverse imprese (1551), Lyon: Che conviensi, che della donna la bontà & non la bellezza sia divulgata. | Open in other pane
- Livret des emblemes (1536), Paris: Mulieris famam, non formam vulgatam esse oportere. La renommee plus que la beaulte de femme est de pris. | Open in other pane
- Emblemes (1549), Lyons: Publiée soit de la femmeNon la beaulté, mais bonne fame. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata / Les emblemes (1584), Paris: Mulieris famam, non formam, vulgatam esse oportere. Que le bon renom de la femme doibt estre publié non la beauté. | Open in other pane
- Les emblemes (1615), Geneva/Cologny: La renommee, plus que la beauté de femme, est de prix. | Open in other pane
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Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- sun represented as face, wheel, etc. [24A6] Search | Browse Iconclass
- birds [25F3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- other birds (with NAME) [25F39(DOVE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- tortoises, turtles (+ animals used symbolically) [25F44(+1)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees (+ stem, trunk) [25G3(+21)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward (+ holding something) [31A2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm held downwards [31A2515] Search | Browse Iconclass
- index finger forwards, pointing, indicating [31A25552] Search | Browse Iconclass
- one leg in front of the other - AA - female human figure (+ standing) [31AA2621(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trampling, treading, stamping on someone or something - AA - female human figure [31AA2726] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult woman [31D15] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult woman (+ nude human being) [31D15(+89)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- housewife [42F10] Search | Browse Iconclass
- piece of sculpture, reproduction of a piece of sculpture [48C24] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (story of) Venus (Aphrodite) [92C4] Search | Browse Iconclass
- other specific aspects of Venus (with NAME) [92C473(DOMESTICA)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Venus (with NAME) [92C48(DOVE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Venus: turtle [92C48(TURTLE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Beauty; 'Bellezza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51D4(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Taciturnity; 'Secretezza', 'Secretezza overo Taciturnità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52DD3(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Good Behaviour (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57A1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Fame; 'Fama', 'Fama buona', 'Fama chiara' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [59B32(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- male persons from classical history (with NAME) non-aggressive activities of person from classical history [98B(PHIDIAS)5] Search | Browse Iconclass
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