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Lascivia.
Wantonness
LXXI [=72] .
Delicias, & mollitiem mus creditur albus
Arguere, at ratio non sat aperta mihi est.[1]
An quòd ei natura salax, & multa libido est?
Ornat Romanas an quia pelle nurus?
Sarmaticum murem vocitant plerique zibellum,[2]
Et celebris suavi est unguine muscus Arabae.[3]
The white mouse is supposed to represent self-indulgence and licentiousness, but the reason is not very clear to me. Is it because it is highly sexed and has strong sexual appetities? Or because it adorns Roman women with its fur? Many people call the civet-cat the Sarmatian mouse, and famous for its sweet oil is the Arabian musk.
1. The white mouse was a proverbial example of the effeminate and the promiscuous. See the Suda s.v. mus, and Apostolius, Proverbs, 11,87, who also reports its sexual proclivities.
2. zibellum, ‘civet cat’, one source of musk, an ingredient in many perfumes. Sarmatia was the region north of the Black Sea.
3. murem...muscus, ‘mouse...musk’. The words ‘mouse’ and ‘musk’ (late Latin muscus) are connected, from the mouse-shaped sac of the male animals which produce musk. Some plants have a musky smell. Muscus also means ‘moss’ - Arabia was famous for plants which produced aromatic gums (e.g. incense and nard).
Related Emblems
Hide related emblems- Declaracion magistral sobre las Emblemas de Andres Alciato (1615), Najera: LASCIVIA. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1621), Padua: Lascivia. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libellus (1546), Venice: Lascivia. | Open in other pane
- Los Emblemas (1549), Lyon: La viçiosa delicadeza. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1550), Lyon: Lascivia. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1551), Lyon: Lascivia. | Open in other pane
- Toutes les emblemes (1558), Lyon: Mignardise. | Open in other pane
- Liber emblematum ... Kunstbuch (1567), Franckfurt am Main: Lascivia. Mutwilligkeit. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1591), Leiden: Lascivia. | Open in other pane
- Diverse imprese (1551), Lyon: Lascivia. | Open in other pane
- Emblemes (1549), Lyons: Mignardise. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata / Les emblemes (1584), Paris: Lascivia. Mignardise. | Open in other pane
- Les emblemes (1615), Geneva/Cologny: Lasciveté. | Open in other pane
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Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
Relating to the text:
- Rome (one of the four world empires) [23S14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beasts of prey, predatory animals: ermine (+ skin, fleece, hide, fur, leather) [25F23(ERMINE)(+351)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beasts of prey, predatory animals: sable (+ movements of animal(s)) [25F23(SABLE)(+52)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rodents: musk-rat (+ movements of animal(s)) [25F26(MUSK-RAT)(+52)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- coat, cape [41D212] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Licentiousness, Lasciviousness; 'Lascivia', 'Licenza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [57AA51(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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