
B. ANULI,
ΣΦΡΑΓΊΔΙΟΝ.
ΑΙΏΝΙΟΝ, ΚΑῚ ΠΡΌΣΚΑΙΡΟΝ.[1]
THE DEVICE OF BARTHÉLEMY ANEAU, A RING ETERNAL AND TRANSIENT
Obscuri generis cùm sim: nullumque feratur
À Gentilitiis nobile stemma meis.
Et mihi cùm fuerit pater Anulus, & Rosa mater:
Ex utroque meum schema parente gero.
Anulus in sese revoluti circulus anguis,
Aeternum signans est Hieroglyphicon.
At Rosa, corporis est nota non obscura caduci:
Quae perit hoc eôdem, quo fuit orta, die.
Scilicet ut quoniam mortali corpore consto,
Aeternaque anima: Symbolon hoc habeam.
Because my parentage is obscure, and no noble lineage can be traced from my ancestors, and because my father was the Ring, my mother the Rose, I wear an image derived from both my parents. The RING, a snake returning unto himself, is the Hieroglyph of Eternity; while the ROSE, who perishes the very day that she is born, is a sign not obscure of the body’s ephemeral nature. Let this be my device: for clearly I am made of mortal body and eternal soul.
1. A bilingual pun: Aneau = Anulus (‘ring’).
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- circle (~ planimetry, geometry) [49D36] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flowers (with NAME) [25G41(ROSE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- plants used symbolically [25G41(ROSE)(+1)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- ring [41D2664] Search | Browse Iconclass
- serpent Ouroboros [23A21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- snakes [25F42] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- allegory of Time and Eternity [23A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Egyptian hieroglyphs [49L21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- family, relationship, descent [42G] Search | Browse Iconclass
- geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc. (names of cities and villages excepted) [61D(Egypt)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- historical person (with NAME) [61B2(Barthelemy Aneau)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Mortality, Extinction of Life [58BB1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- short life [31D92] Search | Browse Iconclass
- spirit (or soul) versus body [31C] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Vitality and Mortality [58B] Search | Browse Iconclass
- writer, poet, author [48C91(Aneau)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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