
XLVIII.
MENS INCONCUSSA MALIS.
CUm sapientia donum Dei sit; nosque à malarum cupidi-
tatum impetu & violentia vindicet; ipsiusque fortunae in-
iuriam modestè ferre doceat, omnes nobis aperiat vias, quae
ad quietem & tranquillitatem animi ducant; ea nihil esse po-
test optabilius, nihil praestantius, aut homine magnanimo di-
gnius. Cùm perceptas penitus & pertractatas humanas res ha-
bere doceat, nihil admirari cùm acciderit; nihil antequam e-
venerit, non evenire posse arbitrari. Itaque Sapientis animus
magnitudine consilii, tolerantia rerum humanarum, con-
temptione fortunae, virtutibus omnibus septus, vinci aut ex-
pugnari non potest. Est enim Sapientis quicquid homini ac-
cidere possit, ad id praemeditari, & ferendum modicè, si evene-
rit: nihil illi videri magnum in rebus humanis: cùm semper a-
nimo sic excubet, ut ei nihil improvisum accidere possit, nihil
inopinatum, nihil omnino novum. Atque idem ita in omnes
partes aciem intendit, ut semper videat sedem sibi in coelis, &
locum sine molestia atque angore vivendi paratum: ut quem-
cunque in hac terrestri vita casum fortuna invexerit, hunc ap-
tè & quietè ferat. Abstrahit enim nos ab his corruptibi-
libus, ut firma spe, & vera fide possidea-
mus aeterna, & iis frua-
mur.

XLVIII.
Georgio Bertino Medico.[1]
MENS INCONCUSSA MALIS.[2]
The mind / soul is unchanged by evil.
UT pelagi mediis rupes in fluctibus extans
Aestum commoti fert benè firma sali,
Sic vitae qui forti animo est ac mente, procellas,
Propositaque etiam morte, pericla feret.
As a rock rising in the middle of the waves of the sea, stands up firmly to the water of the rough sea, thus he who is of strong mind and soul stands up to the storms and dangers of life, even when death is before him.
1. Georgius Bertinus, a doctor.
2. The Greek text in the pictura is originally from Euripides, quoted in Menander, Sententiae (Jaekel edition, 1964), Monosticha, 693, though the fourth word needs to be ammended to ΠΑΘΌΝΤΑ (‘It is easier to advise than to hold out when you are suffering’). It is interesting to note that this image of a mermaid or siren upon a rock with a very Christian-looking city in the background is strongly reminiscent of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, though this story would not be written by Hans Christian Anderson until over two-hundred years after Boissard.
Related Emblems
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Relating to the image:
- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult woman [31D15] Search | Browse Iconclass
- armour [45C22] Search | Browse Iconclass
- book [49M32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- city-view in general; 'veduta' [25I1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown [41D211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- façade (of house or building) [41A31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Greek script [49L13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- hacking and thrusting weapons (with NAME) [45C13(SWORD)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- helmet [45C221] Search | Browse Iconclass
- inscription [49L8] Search | Browse Iconclass
- protective weapons (with NAME) [45C19(SHIELD)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rain [26B] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rocks [25H112] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sea (seascape) [25H23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- seeking death, suicide [31E238] Search | Browse Iconclass
- ships (in general) [46C21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation [31A2352] Search | Browse Iconclass
- storm at sea [26C32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- the soldier; the soldier's life [45B] Search | Browse Iconclass
- wave [25H2311] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Constancy, Tenacity; 'Costanza', 'Tenacità' (Ripa) [53A21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Danger; 'Pericolo' (Ripa) [54DD51] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Fearlessness, Intrepidity; 'Intrepidità & Costanza' (Ripa) [54A81] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Human Life represented by a ship [58B213] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Mortality, Extinction of Life [58BB1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- spirit (or soul) versus body [31C] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generosità dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virtù del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) [54A7] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Vice, Evil, Sin; 'Peccato' (Ripa) [11N1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Virtuousness; 'Amor di Virtù', 'Attione virtuosa', 'Guida sicura de' veri honori', 'Virtù', 'Virtù insuperabile' (Ripa) [57A6] Search | Browse Iconclass
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