
EMBLEMA L.
Uxoriae virtutes.
Wifely virtues.
Testudo premitur pede; clavem dextra retentat;
Vacat obstruendo dentium septo altera.
Ne vaga discurset coniux, neu futilis esto;
Ipsamque cura opum tuendarum addecet.
A tortoise is trodden under her foot; safe in her right hand she holds a key; The other is free to cover the enclosure of her teeth. A wife should not go wandering abroad, nor be idle, And it befits her to have a care for her worldly goods that need looking after.

Complectitur istud emblema ter-
nas praecipuas uxoris dotes, nimirum residem do-
mi suae operam (cuius explicatio XXII. embl.
elucescit) deinde opum mariti industriae quaesita-
rum custodiam, postremò linguae continentiam.
Pingatur itaque recto corporis statu mulier, de-
xtra clavium fascem prae se tenens; laeva ori oppo-
sita, qua specie Angeronia Dea, silentii praesul,
praenexo obsignatoque ore figurabatur apud
priscos.[1]
This emblem embraces the three principal endowments of a wife, to wit: staying at home to take care of the household (on which Emblem XXII ([FJUb022]) sheds light); next, the guardianship of the wealth and goods accrued by the labours of her husband; and last, a control over her tongue. Therefore the picture should show a woman in an upright posture, holding before her in her right hand a bunch of keys; with her left hand pressed to her lips, in which appearance the goddess Angeronia, patroness of silence, was portrayed in antiquity, with her mouth bound and sealed up.
1. ‘Praenexo obsignatoque ore’: quoted from Julius Solinus, Polyhistor, 1.6. Angerona (occasionally -ia) was the goddess of Suffering and Silence.
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- adult woman [31D15] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward (+ holding something) [31A2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- barefoot [41D2339] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- coast [25H13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- forest, wood [25H15] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of plants (herbs) [25G13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of trees [25G11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- hand(s) towards the mouth [31A2536] Search | Browse Iconclass
- housewife [42F10] Search | Browse Iconclass
- key [41A3281] Search | Browse Iconclass
- mountains [25H11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- prospect of city, town panorama, silhouette of city [25I12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sea (seascape) [25H23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- tortoises, turtles [25F44] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trampling, treading, stamping on someone or something - AA - female human figure [31AA2726] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Activity [54A1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- household management; housewife at work [42F] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Idleness; 'Otio' (Ripa) [54DD2] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Restriction, Limitation [51EE11] 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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