Switch to Dual Emblem Display

« Previous EmblemNext Emblem »
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [Bb4v f268v]

Mulieris famam, non formam, vul-
gatam esse oportere.

A woman’s reputation, not her beauty, should be known to the world.

Emblema cxcv.

Woman sitting on the edge of a sofa or bed with one foot on a tortoise. Figure of Cupid above her.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Alma Venus, quaenam haec facies? quid denotat illa
Testudo molli quam pede Diva premis?
Me sic effinxit Phidias,[1] sexúmque referri
Foemineum nostra iussit ab effigie:
Quódque 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.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [Bb5r f269r]

PHidias Veneris statuam effinxit, quae pede testu-
dinem premeret, ut significaret duabus maximè
rebus commendari honestam matrem familias, silen-
tio & familiae procuratione. Ut enim nullum vitium
citiùs foeminam dedecorat quàm loquacitas: sic hae
probro solent affici quae hac illácque cursitant.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [Bb5v f269v]

Que le bon renom de la femme doibt estre
publié non la beauté.

POurquoy, dame Venus, estes vous peinte ainsi,
Et soubs voz tendres pieds est la Tortue aussi?
Taillee j’ay esté avec tel equipage
Par Phidias, afin que toute femme sage
Apprint de ce pourtrait une belle leçon.
Peu parler elle doit, & en nulle façon
Ne doit çà là trotter, car il n’est pas honneste,
Si c’est pourquoy il mit soubs mes pieds ceste beste.

PHidias fit une statue de Venus, qui te-
noit le pied sus une tortue, pour donner
à entendre que la sage mere de famille se
rendoit louable pour deux choses princi-
pallement, assavoir pour le silence, & le soing
de sa maison. Car comme il n’y a point de
vice qui plus descrie la femme que trop ba-
biller: aussi celles qui ne font que courir çà
& là, se donnent un mauvais bruit.

Notes:

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).

« Previous EmblemNext Emblem »

Related Emblems

Iconclass Keywords

Relating to the image:

Relating to the text:

Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.

 

Back to top