
POTENTISSIMUS AFFECTUS
amor.
Love, the all-powerful emotion
Emblema 104.
Aspice ut invictus vires auriga leonis,
Expressus gemma pusio vincat Amor.
Utque manu hac scuticam tenet, hac ut flectit habenas,
Utque est in pueri plurimus ore decor.
Dira lues procul esto: feram qui vincere talem
Est potis, à nobis temperet anne manus?[1]
Look - here’s Love the lad, carved on a gem. He rides triumphant in his chariot and subdues the lion’s might. In one hand he holds a lash, with the other he guides the reins, and on his countenance rests the loveliness of youth. - Dread pestilence keep far away. Would one who has the power to conquer such a beast keep his hands from us?
1. This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 9.221, an epigram about a seal carved with a representation of Eros driving a chariot drawn by lions.
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Related Emblems

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Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- animals (+ wings of an animal) [25F(+342)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm raised upward (+ holding something) [31A2511(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward (+ holding something) [31A2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beasts of prey, predatory animals: lion (+ animal looking over the shoulder) [25F23(LION)(+547)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- city-walls [25I146] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Cupid disarming the strong; the Power of Love [92D151] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of trees [25G11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- looking downwards [31B6212] Search | Browse Iconclass
- low hill country [25H114] Search | Browse Iconclass
- one leg in front of the other (+ sitting) [31A2621(+53)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- reins [46C131613] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rocks [25H112] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation [31A2352] Search | Browse Iconclass
- two-wheeled vehicle drawn by two animals [46C1422] Search | Browse Iconclass
- whip [46C1463] Search | Browse Iconclass
- youth, adolescent (+ nude human being) [31D12(+89)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- 'Forza d'amore, Forza d'amore si nell'acqua come in terra' (Ripa) [56F2515] Search | Browse Iconclass
- charioteer, 'auriga' [43C21311] Search | Browse Iconclass
- ornaments, jewels [41D266] Search | Browse Iconclass
- plague [31A4621] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generosit?ell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virt? animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A7(+4):56F2(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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