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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [C2v p36]

Importuna adulatio.

Improper flattery

Artist painting a portrait of a man in armour, turning to speak to a standing man holding a long stick.
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Magnus Alexander patulum qui subdidit Orbem,
Ut natus esse crederetur č polo:
Illius effigiem insignem picturus Apelles,
Addidit adulator trisulca fulmina.
Sed nimium fuit hoc, & res suspecta modestos
Habuit reprensores negotii levis.
Lysippus plastes qui Regem duxerat aere,
Hastam decere nam magis Reges ait.
Iulius exceptus victor, non Regis honores,
Vult Imperatoris sed usque nomina.
Fulmina mortales terrent, sunt fulmina caelo,
Benigniůs Reges agunt, & Principes.
Convenit his Aegis, praestans & Palladis hasta,
Insigne verům heröis istud inclyti.

In order to have it believed that Alexander the Great, who subjected the wide world, was born in heaven, Apelles was about to paint a remarkable portrait of him; the flatterer added the three-forked thunderbolt. However, this was excessive and modest critics censured the suspect business as a weak job. For the sculptor Lysippus, who fashioned the king in bronze, said the lance was more becoming of the king. When Julius Caesar was welcomed as a conqueror, he did not want the honours of a king, but only the terms of an imperator [commander, general]. The thunderbolts frighten humans, they are the thunderbolts from heaven, kings and princes act more kindly. For these the aegis and outstanding lance of Pallas are suitable, that true symbol of a renowned hero.

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