Link to an image of this page [E7v p78]
Impossibile.
The impossible
EMBLEMA LIX.
Abluis AEthiopem quid frustra? ah desine: noctis
Illustrare nigrae nemo potest tenebras.[1]
Why are you washing an Ethiopian in vain? Oh, do stop. No one can turn the shades of black night into light.
Notes:
1. This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 11.428. See also Aesop, Fables 11; Erasmus, Adagia 350, Aethiopen lavas.
Related Emblems
Hide related emblems- Declaracion magistral sobre las Emblemas de Andres Alciato (1615), Najera: IMPOSSIBILE. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1621), Padua: Impossibile. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum liber (28th February, 1531), Augsburg: IMPOSSIBILE. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum liber (6th April, 1531), Augsburg: IMPOSSIBILE. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum liber (1534), Augsburg: IMPOSSIBILE. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libellus (1534), Paris: Impossibile. | Open in other pane
- Les Emblemes (1539), Paris: Impossibile. Impossible. | Open in other pane
- Les Emblemes (1542), Paris: Impossibile. Impossible. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libellus (1542), Paris: Impossibile. Unmuglich. | Open in other pane
- Los Emblemas (1549), Lyon: Lo impossible. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1550), Lyon: Impossibile. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1551), Lyon: Impossibile. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libri II (Stockhamer) (1556), Lyon: Impossibile. | Open in other pane
- Toutes les emblemes (1558), Lyon: Effort impossible. | Open in other pane
- Liber emblematum ... Kunstbuch (1567), Franckfurt am Main: Impossibile. Vergebne Arbeit. | Open in other pane
- Diverse imprese (1551), Lyon: Impossibile. | Open in other pane
- Livret des emblemes (1536), Paris: Impossibile. Impossible. | Open in other pane
- Emblemes (1549), Lyons: Effort impossible. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata / Les emblemes (1584), Paris: Impossibile. Effort impossible. | Open in other pane
- Les emblemes (1615), Geneva/Cologny: Impossible. | Open in other pane
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Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- water (one of the four elements) [21D] Search | Browse Iconclass
- leaning forward [31A2321] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation [31A2352] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head bent forward; bowing (+ standing) [31A244(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm raised upward (+ holding something) [31A2511(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward [31A2512] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm held downwards [31A2515] Search | Browse Iconclass
- gripping someone by the arm [31A2541] Search | Browse Iconclass
- standing on one leg, the other leg backwards, bent [31A26252] Search | Browse Iconclass
- brush, sponge, etc. (toilet articles) [31A5462] Search | Browse Iconclass
- towel [31A5463] Search | Browse Iconclass
- washing and bathing - AA - in the open air [31AA54] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man (+ three persons) [31D14(+73)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man (+ nude human being) [31D14(+89)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- white races and peoples (+ men) [32B31(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- African negroes (with NAME) (+ men) [32B321(ETHIOPIAN)(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- well [41A3911] Search | Browse Iconclass
- container of ceramics: jar, jug, pot, vase [41A773] 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
- utilitarian, public pump or water fountain [44E14] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- (personifications of) 'Vanitas', the vanity of human life; Fragilit� humana, Fugacit� delle grandezze & della gloria mondana, Meditatione della morte, Opera vana, Piacere vano, Vana gloria, Vanit� (Ripa) [11R5] Search | Browse Iconclass
- day and night [23R] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Impossibility (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52BB42(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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