The Emblem Tradition and the Low Countries: Selected Papers of the Leuven International Emblem Conference, 18-23 August, 1996 (Imago Figurata. Studies) 2503509460, 9782503509464

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THE EMBLEM TRADITION AND THE LOW COUNTRIES

Imago figurata The Series will contain editions, studies and reference works. Publication is in major European languages.

Editorial Board: Peter M. Daly (McGill University, Montreal, Canada) John Manning (University ofWales , Lampeter, UK), and Karel Porteman (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium).

Advisory Board: Michael Bath (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland) Pedro Campa (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA) Karl Enenkel (Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands) Wolfgang Harms (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany) Daniel Russell (University of Pittsburgh, USA) Marc van Vaeck (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium) Ilja M. Veldman (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Already published: Editions Vol. 1 Antonius à Burgundia, Linguae vitia et remedia (Antwerp, 1631 ), with an introduction by Toon van Houdt, 1998

Submissions Anyone wishing to have a typescript considered for publication in Imago Figurata should first send a letter of enquiry accompanied by a 500 word abstract to one of the General Editors.

THE EMBLEM TRADITION AND THE LOW COUNTRIES SELECTED PAPERS OF THE LEUVEN INTERNATIONAL EMBLEM CONFERENCE 18-23 AUGUST, 1996 edited by John Manning, Karel Porteman and Marc van Vaeck

Imago Figurata Studies Vol. lb

BR.EPOLS

© BREPOLS 'i!ll PUBLISHERS Turnhout 1999 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without written permission from the publisher

ISBN 2-503-50946-0 D/1999/0095/5 J

Contents

Preface by Karel Porteman and Marc van Vaeck

VII

The Emblem Tradition in the Southern Netherlands Ari Wesseling, "Testing Modern Emblem Theory: The Earliest Views of the Genre (1564-1566)"

3

Dirk Geirnaert and Paul J. Smith, "The Sources of the Emblematic Fable Book De warachtighe fabulen der dieren ( 1567)"

23

Anne Buschhoff, "Zur gedanklichen Struktur der Amoris divini emblemata des Otto van Veen (Antwerpen 1615)"

39

Taon van Houdt, "The Governing of the Tongue: Language and Ethics in Erasmus' Lingua (1525) and Burgundia's Linguae vitia et remedia ( 163 1)"

77

Marcel de Smedt, "Emblems in an Eighteenth-Century Flemish Manuscript"

91

The Emblem Tradition in the Northern Netherlands

109

Ilja M. Veldman, "Love Emblems by Crispijn de Passe the Eider: Rollenhagen's 'Emblemata', 'Cupid's Bow', 'Youthful Pleasures' and Other 'Channing and Useful' Prints"

111

Katrien A.L. Daemen-de Gelder, "H. Damman and the Emblems in Dirck Pietersz Pers's Bellerophon (Amsterdam, 1614)"

157

Karl Enenkel, "A Leyden Emblem Book: Florentius Schoonhovius's Emblemata partim moralia, partim etiam civilia"

177

Karl Enenkel, "Ein hollandischer Horaz: Florentius Schoonhovius Poe mata"

197

Jeroen Jansen, "The Emblem Theory and Audience of Jacob Cats"

227

VI

Eddy K. Grootes, "Jan van der Veen's Zinne-beelden, oft Adams Appel (1642)"

243

Peter van der Coelen, "Emblemata Sacra? Biblical Picture Books and Emblem Literature"

261

The European Reception of the Low-Countries Emblem Tradition 279

Paul J. Smith, "Fable and Emblem in The Fall of Man (1592) by Cornelis van Haarlem"

281

Mara R. Wade, "Simon de Pas and Karel van Mander III at the Court of King Christian IV: The Dutch Emblem Tradition in Denmark"

303

John H. Astington, "From Emblem to Polemic: Hollar' s Emblemat a Nova"

315

Bernard Teyssandier, "La Galerie de M. de Gomberville ou la peinture sérieuse"

33 7

The Low-Countries Emblem Tradition and Applied Emblematics

355

Ria Fabri, "Amor, amor divinus - anima, virtus: Emblematic Scenes on Seventeenth Century Antwerp Cabinets"

357

Ingrid Hopel, "Emblemprogramme auf nordfriesischen Bauernschranken des 18. Jahrhunderts"

389

Notae Vitae

423

Pre face KAREL PORTEMAN and MARC V AN V AECK K.U. Leuven This second volume of the Proceedings of the Fourth International Emblem Conference (Leuven, 18-20 August 1996) contains eighteen contributions on the emblem in the Low Countries. For studies concerning Jesuit emblematics from these regions, the reader is referred to the first volume of the Leuven Proceedings, which is entirely concerned with the Jesuits. With the exception of two texts on Applied Emblematics, the articles presented here are arranged geographically: the first group is devoted to the Southern or Habsburg Netherlands, the second group deals with the Northern Netherlands (the Republic), and the third section considers the reception of Low Countries emblem literature in Europe. Within these sections, the contributions are presented in chronological order. Needless to say, alternative arrangements of these materials could have been devised, but there can be no doubt that the texts published here are representative of the diversity characterising this discipline at the present time. In the context of the admittedly still relatively brief history of this field of research, four domains seem to be privileged by scholars today. Compared to the 'Dutch papers' presented at the 1993 Pittsburgh conference, as published in Emblematica, 8 (1994), no. 2, some of these domains are traditional white others are, to a greater or lesser extent, innovative. The first of these emphases can be detected in the increased attention devoted to Neo-Latin books of emblems produced in the Low Countries. Partly as a result of the fact that modern emblematic scholarship in the Netherlands and Flanders initially focused primarily on collections directly related to Dutch literature, this Latin production has been undeservedly neglected. In the present volume, the opening up of this field is primarily evident in the innovative articles by Karl Enenkel (Leiden) and Toon van Houdt (Leuven) on the content and meaning of the emblem collections by Florentius Schoonhovius and Antonius a Burgundia. Ilja Veldman's (Amsterdam) extensive contribution - originally a plenary lecture - on the series of love emblems by Crispijn de Passe the Eider also belongs to the cosmos of the 'Neolatinitas'. Not only does this art historian shed new light on the compositional history and the authorship of Rollenhagen's Nucleus, but she also offers a fine illustration of the way in which learned humanist pictorial artists

VIII

Karel Porteman and Marc van Vaeck

have profoundly influenced moral-philosophical Neo-Latin emblematics. Just as was the case with Vaenius, de Passe's 'manus ingeniosa' proves to be guided by literary erudition as much as by artistic talent - as well as by a generous portion of commercial canniness. A discussion which has exercised scholarly minds for a considerably longer period of time concerns the generic demarcations of the emblem and its relation to kindred genres such as the fable (Dirk Geirnaert and Paul Smith, Leiden) and the Biblical Picture Books, especially succesful in the Republic (Peter van der Coelen, Nijmegen). An important part of this discussion relates to the way in which the genre was enriched or renewed by collections that explicitly presented themselves as emblemata but which have been relegated to the margins of the corpus, or even placed outside these margins, by more recent criticism. The exceptionally inventively organised copia of Jan van der Veen' s 1642 Zinne-beelden, oft Adams Appel offers Eddy Grootes (Amsterdam) ample opportunity to broach this subject. Partly because these contributions resist the narrowness of modern emblem definitions, they bear witness to the fact that this topic can generate refreshing insights. The literature on De Dene and on Van der Veen can now boast two contributions that will doubtlessly become standard reading on the subject. Theory remains a third privileged area of research. Sambucus and Cats are the authors that have attracted most comment in this area, as is evident also from both the first Glasgow Proceedings (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990) and the Pittsburgh papers. The poetological introduction to the former's collection is the subject of the Neolatin scholar Ari Wesseling (Amsterdam), who presents a second English translation (after Drysdall's version in Emblematica, 5, 1991) of the excruciatingly difficult De emblemate. His analysis of Sambucus' opening emblem is obviously also further testimony to the rise in NeoLatin emblematic scholarship. In a discerning reading of the prefaces to Cats's emblems, Jeroen Jansen (Amsterdam) shows how these emblems, despite the learned and complex nature of their prefaces, still aimed at a wide audience. This contribution sheds further light on a familiar topic in the study of Cats: the tension between the learned Renaissance scholar and the poet of the people. A fourth feature of current research into Low Countries emblematics is its internationalisation. Although the study of the reception of this emblematic literature was always part ofthis research, and indeed of the research into other national or regional traditions, it now appears to have become a new and vigorously growing shoot on the discipline' s main trunk. The 1997 collection of essays edited by Bart Westerweel on Anglo-Dutch Relations in the

Pre face

IX

Field of the Emblem, itself the record of a 1993 Leiden conference, is clear evidence of this development. Although this reception research was not the primary concern of their Leuven paper, the contributions by John H. Astington (Toronto) on the fate of a number of emblems from the Vaenius-Hollarconnection and by Bernard Teyssandier (Paris X) on Gomberville's Doctrine des moeurs, also indebted to Vaenius, are very much a case in point here. Both authors draw attention to the transformations and functions of the English and French emblems they address. More directly concerned with issues of reception is the article by Mara R. Wade (University of Illinois) on the significance of Simon (van) de Passe and Karel van Mander III for the Danish emblem(atic) culture at the court of Christian IV. The concept of reception (international as well as national) is equally relevant for the way in which the fine arts have employed emblematics. The emblematic approach to paintings is only marginally represented in this volume. Paul Smith (Leiden) does, however, offer us an interesting specimen of animal symbolism in a painting of the Fall by Cornelis van Haarlem, with reference to both the emblematic tradition and to the literature of the fable. The relative absence of this brand of research here is not so much due to the sometimes acerbic dismissal of this method in the contemporary study of art than to the overall lack of interest shown by art historians for 'literary' conferences on emblematics. At any rate, as far as the Leuven conference is concerned, this absence was indeed only relative, as witness the plenary lecture by E. de Jongh (Utrecht), not published here, which consisted of a methodological reflection on a number of reservations concerning iconological interpretation the purport of which is recorded in his book Kwesties van betekenis. Thema en motief in de Nederlandse schilderkunst van de zeventiende eeuw (Lei den, 1995). The importance of emblematics in the art of furniture making is, however, represented here: Ingrid Hopel (Kiel) investigates the emblematic character of North-Frisian (resp. North-German) peasant chests, which sport emblemata from, among others, Roemer Visser's Sinnepoppen. R. Fabri (Antwerp) undertakes an analysis of the ideological and functional factors in the reception of Otto Vaenius's emblemata, beautifully exemplified on three seventeenth-century Antwerp display cabinets. To judge from the present volume, Vaenius appears to have been the most important emblematist of the Low Countries. In an international context, this is not far from the truth. No Jess than five articles mention collections by the Antwerp artist (Astington, Buschhoff, Enenkel [in his contribution 'Ein hollandischer Horaz'], Fabri and Teyssandier); and one of these is entirely devoted to Van Veen: Anna Buschhoff (Bonn) studies the series of

X

Karel Porteman and Marc van Vaeck

sixty A maris divini emblemata from 1615, not as spiritual counterparts of the Amorum emblemata, but as a solidly considered and well-ordered emblematisation of the mystical ascent, whose middle part utilises a more varied discourse of images on virtue and vice. The two remaining articles enrich our knowledge of the history of Dutch emblematic literature in surprising fashion. ln his contribution on an eighteenth-century emblematic manuscript from the abbey of Hemiksem, M. de Smedt (Leuven) shows, among other things, how the separate distribution of emblematic prints divorced from their texts (the 'emblemata muta') not only pleased the collectors but also gave rise to the composition of new emblematic texts. Katrien Daemen-de Gelder (Amsterdam) treats an intricate problem with arresting results: the relation between Dirk Pers's collection of emblems Bellerophon (Amsterdam 1614) and the register (or table of contents) of the Sinne-beelden H. Dammani printed at the end of this collection. And with the East-Flemish humanist Adriaan Dammian, we find ourselves well within the province of Neo-Latin emblematic literature once more. Whoever juxtaposes the present volume of Proceedings with the first volume on Jesuit emblematics (which comprised articles on, among others, Joannes David, the Typus mundi, Herman Hugo, the Imago primi saeculi, the Brussels affixiones, Martinus de Buschere and the Antwerp emblems in tribute to the Latin poet Natalis Rondinius) will doubtlessly confirm that, as regards the emblematics of the Low Countries, Leuven 1996 was the conference on the Neo-Latin dimension. Literary history will certainly benefit from this restored balance in years to corne.

THE EMBLEM TRADITION IN THE SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS

Testing Modern Emblem Theory: The Earliest Views of the Genre (1564-1566) ARI WESSELING Universiteit van Amsterdam SummaryI

The relationships between the constituent parts of the emblem have been a subject of dispute in recent times.2 According to a widely accepted view, the combination of the motto and the pictura produces an enigma, which can be resolved by means of the subscriptio. This narrow and rigid conception was rightly rejected by Schéine.3 In fact, many emblems are not enigmatic at all. Mottoes are mere descriptive titles in many cases. Picturae often have a purely illustrative, ornamental fonction, and, lastly, there are collections in which some emblems are devoid of picturae. The tripartite structure of emblems is taken for granted. However, this is not as obvious as it would seem. It will be argued that modern theory needs to corne to terms with the earliest views of the genre, propagated by two collaborators of the Plantin press, the Hungarian emblem writer Joannes Sambucus (1564) and the Dutch translator Marcus Antonius Gillis (1566). Both views take the idea of a two-part structure. They differ, interestingly, on the question as to which parts constitute the essence of the emblem. Sambucus speaks of pictura and subscriptio exclusively. Gillis, by contrast, stresses that it is the combination of motto and pictura which constitutes the emblem. In his view, the poem is a purely additional element. The views of Sambucus and Gillis

This essay intends to reconsider two early views of the emblem. Of the first, a preface in Latin by Joannes Sambucus (1564), we have a modern English translation by Drysdall. The second, a preface in Dutch by Marcus Antonius Gillis (1566), has been discussed by Porteman.4 I shall focus on the essay by Sambucus and attempt a comparison between his view and Gillis's. lt will be argued that they differ on what seems a major issue, namely the structure of the emblem. Bath views will be compared to modern emblem theory. A transcription of Sambucus' account with a new translation and explanatory notes is given at the end of this article.

4

Wesseling

Joannes Sambucus (1531-84) was the first to formulate a theory of the emblem. It may be useful to recall that this Hungarian humani st and distinguished philologist stayed at various universities in Germany, Paris, and Italy before taking up residence in Vienna (1564).5 During a sojourn in the southern Netherlands he published a collection of emblems with the Plantin press at Antwerp in 1564. In a preface, written at Ghent, he presents his view of the genre, while also giving instructions for the benefit of aspiring emblem poets. Whethe r anyone did benefit remains to be seen. It is in fact a peculiar and difficult piece of Latin. Its syntax is sometimes laboured, while the argume nt is unclear on at least one point. Sambucus liked working Greek words and phrases into his Latin. Authors such as Cicero and Erasmus used Greek too, especially in their correspondence, but his usage seems excessive and forced by comparison. One is tempted to think of a passage in the Fraise of Polly, where lady Stultitia ridicules the affected mannerism of rhetoricians (including herself) who 'think it a splendid feat if they can work a few silly little Greek words, like pieces of mosaic ["velut emblemata"], into their Latin speeches, howeve r out of place these are.'6 Sambuc us' technique is rather similar to that of Guillaume Budé in his Latin letters, which may well have been his model. I suppose that he was deliberately obscure, in order to lend an air of erudite exclusivity to his essay. He apparently considered emblem making as elegant play for the learned. This assumption is corroborated by his claim that emblem writers need to have encyclopedic knowledge. Sambucus saw his collection reissued four times during his lifetime. An enlarged edition appeared in 1566.7 Even though he was a learned philologist, he never took the opportunity to revise his preface.8 Apparently both Sambucus and his publisher found his account quite satisfactory, at least for the learned readership they were aiming at. Part of Sambucus' terminology can be traced back to a Greek dictionary that he leaves unmentioned, namely Guillaume Budé' s Commentarii linguae Graecae (1529). He used Budé's article on auµ~oÀov, which was also an important source for another emblem writer, Achille Bocchi. In fact, Bocchi 's preface to his Symbolicae quaestiones (1555) is partly based on Budé's article.9 Although Sambucus was familiar with Bocchi' s collection, it is clear that he consulted Budé's article directly. Sambucus freely used Budé's materials for his own purposes. For example, he proposes to use the terms aûµ~oÀov and Tiapâ.CJT]µov to denote picturae. Budé, who never refers to emblem s in the modern sense, mention s the word 1Tapâ.m1µov in connection with a particular meanin g of avµ~oÀov, namely, insignia (e.g. those of royalty).

The Emblem Tradition in the Southern Netherlands

5

The main points of Sambucus' account can be summarized as follows. An emblem conveys a (moral) truth in veiled form. Its aim is entertainment and moral instruction. The observer is challenged to discover the implied truth through reflection. Emblems differ, however, from enigmas in that the latter are more difficult to resolve.10 As regards the pictura Sambucus prefers to use the term 'symbol' and its synonym rrapamiµov [distinguishing mark]. Subject-matter is supplied from three areas: human behavior, nature, and, thirdly, history and fiction. 11 The latter field comprises, I surmise, ancient historiography along with myths, legends and fables. The purpose of emblems is to convey a moral lesson.12 The pictura must be geared to the meaning which the author intends to express. Accordingly, far-fetched and preposterous images are to be avoided. When an image is too obscure, its meaning should be made more explicit. Conversely, when it is banal and obsolete, its sense should be concealed. In the third paragraph Sambucus repeats the latter precept, though from a different point of view: whenever the subject is a familiar maxim or motif, the picture must not reproduce exactly its content; instead, it should include additional elements so as to disguise the intended meaning. He finally insists, in line with the best tradition of the Renaissance, that it is necessary to have encyclopedic knowledge for devising truly intriguing emblems. According to Sambucus, the ideal emblem is a captivating and visually striking combination of a pictura and a subscriptio which suggest a hidden moral meaning. One may note the absence of any reference to mottoes or titles: the author speaks of pictura and subscriptio exclusively.13 This is even more remarkable in view of his actual practice, as he did prefix mottoes to every single emblem in his collection. Many of these are merely descriptive titles, but most of them are pithy or intriguing mottoes. Even so, he apparently did not consider mottoes as a constituent part of emblems. Sambucus' view is not unprecedented. There is an interesting parallel in the practice of the earliest French emblem writers. In fact, the earliest, authorized editions of Guillaume de La Perrière's Theatre des bons engins (1540-44) bear no mottoes, which indicates that the French poet did not envisage a tripartite structure.14 Marcus Antonius Gillis, while taking the concept of a two-part emblem for granted, proposed a different view. The Dutchman, who translated two emblem collections, stresses in his preface to the one by Sambucus that it is the combination of the motto and the pictura which constitutes the emblem, the subscriptio being a mere additional element. Its fonction is 'to clarify to some extent the obscurity of the word and the picture': 'om de duysterheyt

6

Wesseling

des woorts met de figure (in welcke twee d'Emblema gelegen is) wat te verclaren'.15 Gillis' conception of a two-part structure is determine d by the device. This assumptio n is supported by his (casual) reference to 'devisen' on p. 6. Whereas he qualifies emblem writing as a new type of Iiterature (p. 4), he still connects it with the traditional device. Sambucus, on the other band, makes no mention of devices at ail. There is no evidence that either Gillis or Sambucus used contempo rary theories of the impresa such as those by Paolo Giovio (1555) and Girolamo Ruscelli (1556). These early views offer an interesting opportunit y for testing modem emblem theory. Both Sambucus and Gillis endorse a two-part structure (pictura + subscriptio and motto + pictura respectively). Clearly, this is incompatibl e with the tripartite mode! which is the starting-point of modem theory. It affects the basis on which generalizing speculations on relationsh ips between the parts of the emblem are construed. How modem descriptions can be made flexible enough to encompas s the early views while at the same time meeting requireme nts of specificity and concretene ss is a matter outside the scope of this paper. For ail practical purposes, however, emblems may be described, for the most part, as combinati ons of a title or a motto, a pictura, and a subscriptio. They suggest in a more or less intriguing way a meaning which the reader/vie wer is to discover by combining the various pictorial and textual elements. It seems advisable to stay away from generalizi ng about relationsh ips between the different parts of the emblem. (Incidentally, neither Sambucus nor Gillis took this approach.) A few further observatio ns on these early views are probably necessary. A compariso n of both prefaces reveals an overall difference in approach. Sambucus is prescriptive, in that he gives advice on devising emblems. Gillis, by contrast, points to a few characteristic features of the genre and next discusses problems inherent in translating Latin poetry. Obviously , their readership is different. Sambucus has a leamed audience in mind that is steeped in the classics. His translator, by contrast, a rhetorician ('rederijke r'), addresses people in the Low Countries who, although having a general education, Jack knowledg e of ancient history and mythology (p. 7). It might seem characteri stic that he stresses the practical applicability of emblems, in that he recommen ds depicting them just like devices in buildings ('cameren , salen, poortalen, poorten, vensteren, dueren', p. 6). He also characteri zes emblems as didactic pictures ('leerende schilderie n', p. 5). On the other hand, quite unlike Sambucus , he does not insist on a specificall y moral Iesson - a peculiar omission, one might think, in a compatrio t of Jacob Cats.16 Like Sambucus , the Dutchman observes that a good emblem should be

The Emblem Tradition in the Southern Netherlands

7

neither too clear and plain ('claer ende plat') nor too obscure and difficult ('duyster ende scherp'). He also encourages his readers to invent new compositions using various sources, namely historiography, fiction, poetry, natural science, similes, and lastly, things and events from daily life ('Historien, Fabulen, Poëterien, natuerlijcke redenen, gelijckenissen, 17 ende andere dingen diemen dagelics voor ons oogen siet ghebueren', p. 6). He adopted Sambucus' definition of the original meaning of emblemata, 'inlay-work', that is: 'aile sulcke cieraten die van verscheyden dingen ende coleuren tot vercieringe van eenighe wercken daerin gheleyt ende gemaect werden' [ail such ornaments which out of different materials, and colours have been worked in or inlaid for the embellishment in artefacts] (p. 4). Did Sambucus' essay have any impact on other emblem writers? His collection as such was quite successful. Considerably enlarged in 1566, it went through six editions in aJJ.18 A Dutch translation appeared in 15 66, as we have seen, and a French version by Jacques Grévin in 1567 .19 Both translators took the Latin preface for granted. They may have been deterred by the difficulty of the text or thought it too theoretical for their readership. Claude Mignault must have taken notice of it.20 On the whole, however, it had little impact. In this respect its relevance is limited. It is, however, a document of singular value in that it conveys an early theory of the emblem, one of the very few that have come down to us from the earliest era of emblematics.

An illustration.from Sambucus' Emblemata By way of illustration 1 will discuss an emblem of Sambucus (Fig. 1) which is related to his essay inasmuch as it celebrates the art of poetry and, more particularly, its capacity to depict anything in the universe by 'imitation' - by representation.21 It may well reflect his own view - or at Jeast one of his views. The main theme is poetry as a tool. Being helpless in itself, it derives its fabulous power to represent from divine influence. The emblem can be seen as an allegorical representation of the Platonic ideal of the poet as vates, a medium dependent on divine inspiration. It is dedicated to the French philologist Denis Lambin. Though less likely, the title may also mean: 'The Art of Poetry addresses Denis Lambin' .22 The woodcut depicts the art of poetry as a Muse, her head wreathed with laureJ.23 Standing between chaos and creation she has been given form and life by divine inspiration, which is represented by sunbeams. On her arm she holds a monkey as a symbol ofher power to imitate, in her left hand what at first sight may seem like a staff, and a pair of scissors. Other paraphernalia

8

Wesseling

are a table with quills, an inkpot and a writing- case or a book.24 Her attitude - with left arm stretched out - suggests that she is reciting. Her words appear underne ath in the obvious form of a poem. 1 shall attempt to paraphr ase it. Even though Poetry depicts any subject whatsoever, she owns nothing; she just represen ts through imitation (lines 1-2). She address es serious subjects as well as playful themes, while freely minglin g truth with fiction (3-4). Unlike prose writers she is not bound by a prescrib ed order in dealing with a given topic. She also has a greater freedom in matters of style (5-6). She is not devoid of matter nor of a piece of cloth for making a dress. What she Jacks is an individual form and a single garment, even though she is dressed (or: She has no substance, no cloth, no individual form, no single garment , even though she is dressed ) (7-8). She may seem to lack skill, but the opposite is true: her accomp lished artistry consists even in making garmen ts of various kinds to suit her ever changin g appeara nce (9-10). She is not selfmotivat ed, nor has she a will of her own. For she is a tool of divine inspiration. She is given shape again and again through the divine spirit that inspires her (11-12). There are a few notable reminis cences of classical poetry, which help us to apprecia te the poet's intentions. The words 'caelest is spiritus intus agit' in the final distich clearly echo Vergil' s account in the .&ne id on the soul of the universe, the source of ail life, which stirs the earth and the celestial bodies.25 It is the same spirit that animate s the Muse of poetry. At the same time, one may even catch a Christian overtone, if 'fingor' alludes to the creation myth in Genesis 2.26 Gillis, for one, interpreted the close of the poem in a Christia n sense. He even went so far as to bring the concept of divine grace into play: '[ick] heb de gratie Gods van doene' [I need God's grace]. Furthermor e, the poem owes element s to Horace' s Ars poetica , though fewer than one might expect.27 Sambuc us publishe d an edition of Horace 's poem with a briefco mmenta ry in 1564.28 The ernblern offers an attractive opportu nity of verifying whether the author Iived up to his own precepts as laid down in the preface. The ideal emblem, it may be recalled, is a captivat ing and visually striking combin ation of a pictura and a subscriptio suggest ing a hidden moral meaning. Let us take a fresh look at the same emblem , trying this time to skip its title as if it were not there and to put ourselv es in the position of Denis Lambin, or indeed of any contem porary observe r having a classical backgro und. Such a person, 1 imagine, would identify the central figure as a Sibyl or, more likely, as one of the Muses. He might just ponder whether to think specifically of Clio, the guardia n of historiography, who usually ho Ids a scroll in ancient art, or rather

The Emblem Tradition in the Southern Netherlands

9

of Calliope, the patroness of epic poetry, who is traditionally represented with a little writing-table and a pen. The representation of the Muse has been enriched by the figure of a monkey, which would readily remind him of the concept of imitation and, with respect to the Muse, of poetic mimèsis. Our observer would then turn to the subscriptio. By the second distich any doubt that the emblem's subject is Poetry would be dissipated. He would also recognize and appreciate the tags from the Ars Poetica. After having read the poem, he would connect details of the description with elements of the visual representation. In doing so, he would probably link 'materia' in line 7 with 'chaos' in the pictura. He would also link 'pannus' [a piece of cloth] with the long-drawn-out object in Poetry' s left band and recognize it as a roll of fabric - if in fact he had not yet done so before (at first glance) when he first spotted the scissors. On this point he might pause and consider that Poetry creates forms from amorphous matter, raw material indeed, using things and scenes in nature as a model, whereas Poetry in turn, depending on divine inspiration, is brought forth and given form over and over again by a higher power. Not unlikely, familiar passages from Marsilio Ficino on the subject of creation and 'materia prima' might corne to his mind, or even discussions on the same theme of recent date, like th ose reflected in Giulio Camillo' s Ide a del theatro (1550), who dwells upon la materia prima, chiamata altramenti chaos, et da' platonici anima del mondo, et da' poeti Proteo. Della quale Dio poi trasse il cielo, la terra et tutie le cose.29 Perhaps, he would even wonder what moral implication the emblem might have and consider that poetry, a sacred emanation, is to be revered as a gift from heaven and that worthy poets deserve deference. At any rate, our observer would admire Sambucus' celebration of the art of poetry and appreciate the intriguing and thought-provoking details of the emblem. In short, he would find it both delightful and instructive.JO But what about the motto? Sambucus, one may recall, makes no mention of mottoes in his discussion of the parts of the emblem. In the case at hand, the title 'Poëtica' spoils the intriguing character of the pictura and the subscriptio. In fact, it tells it ail. Apparently, the poet himself did not care. Finally, it is worth taking contemporary interpretations of Sambucus' emblem into account, if only for the light they may shed on his intentions. To that end the translations by Gillis and Grévin are reproduced here.

10

Wesseling De const der Poëterien. Tot Dionysium Lambinum Hoewel ict al verbale, t'sy sotte curen Oft wijsheyt, en neerstige dingen voordachtich: Nochtans en heb ick niet eygens t'eeniger uren, Maer volge alle dingen na de Simme slachtich.31 Versierde dingen menge ick met die zijn warachtich, En by recnijnghe doct En~· v înnHc\ick gtQet: M.icr e1ft_ d.it hyt1Jl .,.ÎJttdr voorw.1.cr Zoo en fal hy ni et wordcn vcru.1::dt van bloet Enetlld.tt v quJ.;mcnthuercn volghennacr. Zoo es hy d·c.i:tfte iude wectcd end· •tl t'ghu~nt dat rec hm eer dic hcy t ghcbiedt Om yeghe;\ck t'z1ine ghe ucn,in al v leuen Zo o wo rt ghy ver heu :n: Als een die Go d, en drn me !lfche te vriende,,hceft Vo lgh t t'vo orb e\ \'ijs va nde n Ho Die van zijn neH-iwghcn,iaer uaerc befcreuen. licx thiende ghecft. 1

Eccles. 1 t. im laerfie Reelt G'>d, ho ud zijn ghebod , itH vulbrijnghclfl Oit:; fey nd c en t'flor~ van all tn d1;nghen.

V

Figure 4 De warachtighefabulen der

dieren (Bruges, 1567), p. 216 .

The Emblem Tradition in the Southern Netherlands

37

NOTES

1. A longer version of the present contribution, meant for researchers on sixteenthcentury Dutch literature, will be published in Dutch in Jaarboek 'De F onteine '. 2. 'Fable collections appearing after Alciati sometimes include a number of emblems as fables, exemplifying the fact that emblems can become sources for fables and not just the other way around' (M. Tung, 'A Serial List of Aesopic Fables in Alciati's "Emblemata", Whitney's "A Choice of Emblemes", and Peacham's "Minerva Britanna"', Emblematica, 4 (1989), 315-29 (p. 316). 3. B. Tiemann, Fabel und Emblem. Gilles Corrozet und die .franzosische Renaissance-Fabel (Munich, 1974). 4. De vvarachtighefabvlen der dieren (Bruges: P. de Clerck, 1567). We used the reprint (Roeselare, 1978), ed. W. Le Loup and M. Goetinck. 5. De Dene (1506-1578) was the artistic leader (the 'factor') of one of the two Brugean Chambers of Rhetoric, De drie Santinnen ('The Three Women Saints'). In 1561 he collected most of his work in his Testament Rhetoricael (his 'rhetorical last will'), a manuscript of 466 folios. In this compilation, De Dene gives the earliest translations and adaptations of Rabelais in the Low Countries (see D. Geimaert, 'Imitating Rabelais in Sixteenth-Century Flanders: The Case of Eduard de Dene', in Éditer et traduire Rabelais à travers les âges, ed. P.J. Smith [Amsterdam, 1997], pp. 66-1 OO). 6. He did not use the first edition of 1542, as can be deduced from the resemblance between Gheeraerts' etchings and the engravings by Bernard Salomon, the illustrator of the 1547 edition. See for further information D. Geimaert and P.J. Smith, 'Tussen fabel en embleem: De warachtighe fabulen der dieren (1567)', Literatuur, 9 (1992), 22-33 (p. 28). 7. M. van Vaeck, 'Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Dutch "Emblematic" Fable Books from the Gheeraerts Filiation', Emblematica, 7 (1993), 25-38 (p. 37). 8. See e.g. M. van Vaeck, 'Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Dutch "Emblematic" Fable Books', p. 29. 9. L. Scharpé, 'Van De Dene tot Vondel', Leuvensche Bijdragen, 4 (1900), 5-59. 10. De Bibel. Tgeheele Oude ende Nieuwe Testament (Antwerp: W. Vorsterman, 1528).

38

Geimaert and Smith

11. Den Bibel. Inhoudende dat Oude ende Nieuwe Testament (S.!.: N. Biestkens van Diest, 1560). This Biestkens Bible was a Baptist Bible version (see C.C. De Bruin, De Statenbijbel en zijn voorgangers [Leiden, 1937], 216). 12. For some examples, see our forthcoming article mentioned in note 1. 13. See L. Voet, The Plantin Press (1555-1589) (Amsterdam, 1980), I, 8-11. 14. Aesopi Phrygis et aliorum fabulae (Antwerp: C. Plantin, 1560), fol. 41 vb. 15. Gheeraerts too uses contemporary sources for his etchings of animais, esp. Conrad Gessner's Historia Animalium (see D. Geimaert and P.J. Smith, 'Tussen fabel en embleem', p. 28). 16. On Maerlant, see esp. F. van Oostrom, Maerlants wereld (Amsterdam, 1996). 17. Zie M. Gysseling, Corpus van Middelnederlandse teksten (tot en met het jaar 1300). Reeks II: Literaire handschriften. Deel 2, 'Der naturen bloeme' (The Hague, 1981 ). 18. In addition to the textual resemblances, we may perhaps consider Gheeraerts's etching depicting three elephants as a reference to Maerlant's 'dar si te gadre gaen in scaren' [where they flock]. 19. The verses on the basilisk in Maerlant's Naturen Bloeme (11. 10760-92) seem to have inspired De Dene. For textual evidence, see the forthcoming article (note 1). 20. The only other works to record this remarkable behaviour of the stork were the French (Jardin de Santé) and the Latin (Hortus Sanitatis) versions of the German Gart der Gesundheit; textual comparison reveals that the author of Der Dieren Palleys must have used the French or Latin translation as a source. 21. We are not the first to reveal the line between TFA and Alciato/Sambucus. In the article cited in note 2, Mason Tung already briefly pointed out a relationship between De Dene's fables and the emblems of Alciato and Sambucus. 22. This is Jess far-fetched than it seems. There are links between TFA and England: e.g. TFA was used by Geffrey Whitney when composing his A Choice of Emblemes (Leyden, 1586) and so Whitney may have been the intermediary between the Flemish text and the English language giving rise to the phrase in question. 23. This is probably the most one can get, because in the introduction to TFA, Gheeraerts says that some of the fables in the book were newly invented by the author ('Oock zijnder eenighe toe-ghedaen by den Poëte, die noyt [... ] ghedruckt en waren' [TFA, fol. Alv]).

Zur gedanklichen Struktur der Amoris divini emblemata des Otto van Veen (Antwerpen 1615) ANNE BUSCHHOFF Universitat Bonn lm Jahre 1615 lieB Otto van Veen (1556-1629)1 seine geistliche Liebesemblematik unter dem Titel Amoris Divini Emblemata ais hochrechteckiges Quartformat bei Martin Nutius und Johannes Meursius zu Antwerpen drucken.2 Die viersprachige Editio princeps wurde erst 1660 in der Druckerei Plantin unter Balthasar Moretus ein zweites und letztes Mal aufgelegt.3 In 60 Emblemen beschreibt Van Veen, wie Amor Divinus in Gestalt einer nimbierten Kinderfigur die Anima in Persan eines kleinen Madchens auf ihrem Weg zu Gott anleitet. Das Gleichnis für das Verhliltnis zwischen Christus und der menschlichen Seele erfuhr in diesem kindlichen Liebespaar eine neue Gestaltung. Ais Künstler legte Van Veen besonderes Gewicht auf die bildliche Umsetzung seines brautmystischen Staffes, indem er wie bereits in den Q. Horatii Flacci Emblemata (Antwerpen, 1607)4 eine Trennung von Text und Bild vomahm. In den zwei Buchseiten umfassenden Emblemen hatte er bereits die Motti und Subscriptiones den Picturae gegenübergestellt. Die lateinischen Subscriptiones der Amoris Divini Emblemata bilden ein Konglomerat von Zitaten aus über 30 Werken, vor allem der Bibel, dabei insbesondere dem Hohelied, sowie Schriften der Kirchenvliter, vomehmlich des Augustinus. lm Vorwort zu seiner geistlichen Emblematik schildert Van Veen, daB die Erzherzogin Isabella (1566-1633) die Anregung gab, seinen profanen Liebesemblemen einen geistlichen Sinn zu unterlegen.5 Zwar weisen die Amoris Divini Emblemata zahlreiche motivische Anleihen bei den Amorum Emblemata auf,6 gehen jedoch inhaltlich weit über eine geistliche Kontrafaktur der profanen Liebesemblematik hinaus.

1985 legte der spanische Kunsthistoriker Santiago Sebastian Lapez eine monographische Studie zur geistlichen Emblematik des Van Veen vor, in der er von einer unsystematischen Anordnung der Amoris Divini Emblemata ausging.7 In seiner Analyse gruppierte Lapez zum einen Embleme, die das We-

40

Buschhoff

sen der gottlichen Liebe beschreiben, und zum anderen, getrennt von dieser ersten Gruppe, Embleme, die den mystische n Aufstieg der Anima zu Gott in den Stufen der Reinigung , der Erleuchtun g und der Vereinigu ng mit Gott schildern. In diesem Dreischrit t war die mystische Erfahrung bereits bei den altchristlic hen Kirchenschriftstellern schematis iert worden: So etwa bei Origines, Gregor von Nyssa oder Pseudo Dionysos, im abendland ischen Mittelalte r bei Bernhard von Clairvaux und Bonaventura8 und nicht zuletzt bei dem prominent en niederland ischen Mystiker Jan Ruysbroec k, der in seinem um 1335 entstanden en Hauptwer k Die Chierheit der Geesteliker Brulocht [Die Zierde der geistlichen Hochzeit] den Weg der Seele zu Gott in dreigeteilt er Form entwickelte9. Lapez behauptete zu Recht, daB der mystische Aufstieg nicht ein Ordnungsp rinzip für alle 60 Emblemat a darstellt.10 Jedoch berücksich tigte er nicht, daf3 Van Veen den geistlichen Aufstieg der Seele am Anfang und am SchluB seines Emblembu ches in stringente r Abfolge der Purgatio, der Illuminatio und der in der mystische n Vereinigu ng endenden Perfectio nachzeichnete: Ais die Seele Amor Divinus kennen- und liebenlernt, reinigt sie sich zunachst von der Sünde, indem sie irdischen Verlockungen widersteht; sodann versucht sie, sich der Liebe des Amor Divinus würdig zu erweisen, indem sie sich in Tugenden und Gebeten übt. Amor Divinus steht ihr dabei hilfreich zur Seite. Schlief3lich findet Anima ihre Liebe in der 'unio mystica' mit Amor Divinus erfüllt. Diese Struktur soll die folgende Analyse der einleitend en acht und der abschlieBenden zehn Emblemata der Emblemfo lge belegen. Das Emblem 'Deus ante omnia amandus' ll (Abb. 1) erë>ffnet programmatis ch die Amoris Divini Emblemata, indem es die Ausrichtu ng der menschlic hen Seele auf Gott in mystische r Kontempl ation ais Thema und Ziel des Werkes formuliert. Die Zitate aus pfer und dienen Van Veen dazu, den Lebensweg des Menschen ais Weg zu Gott zu kennzeichnen. Die hë>here Wirklichkeit der gë>ttlichen Liebe findet bildlichen Ausdruck in einem von Wolken umfangen en Strahlenkranz, welcher durch die Inschrift 'Oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit', 14 ein Zitat aus ttliche Liebe schlof3 Van Veen in den nachstehe nden sieben Emblemen einen Abrif3 des mystische n Heilswege s an.

The Emblem Tradition in the Southern Netherlands

41

Das zweite Emblem 'lncipiendum'l6 (Abb. 2) führt die Protagonisten des Buches ein. Amor Divinus eilt von links herbei, um der am Boden liegenden Anima aufzuhelfen. Die Pictura illustriert mit den Motiven der Blumen, des Baumes und der Turteltaube das nebenstehende Zitat des Hoheliedes (2, 10-12), in welchem der Brautigam seine Braut mit dem Anbruch des Frühlings dazu auffordert, ihm zu folgen. Links hinter Amor führt ein W eg zu einer Kirche, deren Kirchplatz nach rechts durch eine steile Meeresklippe begrenzt wird. Die Figur der Anima erscheint vor dem sturmgepeitschten Meer, welches zum einen ais Bild der Welt fungiertl7 und zum anderen ihren Seelenzustand metaphorisiert. Wind und Wolken lassen Geldkatze, Krone, Pfauenfedern und eine Fasanenpastete ais Symbole der Habgier, des Machtstrebens, der Eitelkeit und der Vollerei des Menschen auf den Wogen treiben. Origines' zitierte Metapher von der 'vitiorum procella'l8 findet damit ihre bildliche Umsetzung. Ein Schiff, welches im Sturm in Seenot geraten ist, stellt ein Sinnbild für das sündige Leben der Seele vor ihrer Begegnung mit Amor Divinus dar.19 Das Unwetter wird jedoch durch die strahlende Sonne ais Zeichen gottlicher Macht verdrangt. Die Überwindung der Finsternis ais bosem Prinzip durch das Licht ais gutem Prinzip bildet eine Analogie zum Geschehen im Vordergrund: Amor Divinus naht, um die Seele aufzurichten und gemaB dem Motto 'lncipiendum' zum Guten zu führen. Die hier in Aussicht gestellte Gottesliebe beschreibt Van Veen im nachfolgenden Emblem 'Ex amore adoptio'20 (Abb. 3) durch ein Zitat des Evangelisten Johannes, einem der groBten Künder der Liebe Gottes im Neuen Testament: 'Videte qualem charitatem ecchierell.o ji·onfolato, Le riconobbe dl primo, e mej/è 1Jngrùlo, c·hdrebbe ognigran cuoreJ}attentdto, Ob f gfiuo/ Jj mtd_ 1Jittt, ef dCe, niJo, Qu,ttljierd (ohimè) tptttl mtti r'hà diuordtD, Ohùnè di 1>Ùter pù't no mi confdo.

Harè t'!:ojfa dpietd lînjèrnaljùrie, E non moffegt autor di tal' ingiuri~. Figure 7 Bernard Salomon, Joseph 's Coat Shawn to Jacob, woodcut, c. 6 x 8 cm, in Figvre Del Vecchio Testamento, Con Versi Toscani, Per Damian Maraffi (Lyons: Jean de Tournes, 1554). Photo: Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel.

The Emblem Tradition in the Northem Netherlands

275

Figure 8 Diego Velazquez, Joseph's Coat Shawn ta Jacob, 1630, canvas, 223 x 250 cm. Photo: Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

276

Van der Coelen NOTES

l. M. Praz, Studies in Seventeenth-Century lmagery, 2 vols (Rome, 1964-74), 1, p. 324. For Schabaelje's Emblemata Sacra, see P. Visser, Broeders in de geest. De doopsgezinde bijdragen van Dierick en Jan Philipsz. Schabaelje tot de Nederlandse stichtelijke literatuur in de zeventiende eeuw, 2 vols (Deventer, 1988), 1, pp. 374, 42448; II, pp. 208-9. Cf. P. van der Coelen a.o., Patriarchs, Angels and Prophets. The Old Testament in Netherlandish Printmaking .from Lucas van Leyden to Rembrandt, Studies in Dutch Graphie Art, 2 (Amsterdam, 1996), p. 158, no. 60.

2. For picture Bibles, see M. Engammare, 'Les Figures de la Bible. Le destin oublié d'un genre littéraire en image (XVIe-XVIIe s.)', Mélanges de !'École .française de Rome, 106 (1994), 549-91. M. Engammare, "'Graver en la table des affections l'amour des sacrées histoires". Les fonctions pédagogiques des "Figures de la Bible"', in Catéchismes et Confessions de foi. Actes du VIIIe Colloque Jean Boisset, ed. M.-M. Fragonard and M. Peronnet (Montpellier, 1995), pp. 313-70. Cf. my essay 'Das Alte Testament in Bilderbibeln des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts', in lm Lichte Rembrandts. Das Alte Testament im Goldenen Zeitalter der niederldndischen Kunst, ed. C. Tümpel (Zwolle, 1994), pp. 168-93. 3. D. S. Russell, The Emblem and Device in France, French Forum Monographs, 59 (Lexington, 1985), p. 172. A. Saunders, 'The Sixteenth-Century French Emblem Book: Writers and Printers', Studi Francesi, 31 (1987), 173-90 (pp. 175-83). A. Saunders, The Sixteenth-Century French Emblem Book. A Decorative and Useful Genre, Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 224 (Geneva, 1988), pp. 29-70. J.-M. Chatelain, Livres d'emblèmes et de devises. Une anthologie (1531-1735) (Paris, 1993), pp. 63-8. 4. Martin Luther, Ein Betbüchlin, mit eym Calender vnd Passional, hübsch zu gericht (Wittenberg: Hans Lufft, 1529), fol. V4r-c7r (Passional; preface on fol. V4r-V5r). Facsimile reprint: Martin Luther, Ein Betbüchlein mit Kalender und Passional, ed. Frieder Schulz (Kassel, 1982). See D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe, X/2 (Weimar, 1907), pp. 331-501. Cf. for the illustrations, H. Zimmermann, 'Luthers Betbüchlein. Ein Schatzkastlein deutscher Andacht und reformationszeitlicher Buchkunst', Luther, 13 (1931), 79-90. 5. ln the second edition of the Leien Bibel. For Rihel's picture Bible, see R.W. Gassen, Die Leien Bibel des Straj3burger Druckers Wendelin Rihel. Kunst, Religion, Padagogik und Buchdruck in der Reformation, Memminger Geschichtsblatter, Jahresheft 1983-4, pp. 5-271. 6. O.S. Russell, The Emblem and Device, p. 170. For Holbein's Icones, see R. Mortimer, French 16th Century Books, Harvard College Library. Department of Printing and Graphie Arts. Catalogue of Books and Manuscripts, 1 (Cambridge, Mass., 1964),

The Emblem Tradition in the Northem Netherlands

277

I, pp. 340-9; M. Kastner, Die Icones Hans Holbeins des Jüngeren. Ein Beitrag zum graphischen Werk des Künstlers und zur Bibelillustration Ende des 15. und in der ersten Hal.fie des 16. Jahrhunderts, 2 vols (Heidelberg, 1985). 7. Cf. W. Roll, 'Figuren-Bande (Bilderbücher) des 16. Jahrhunderts ais Buchtyp', Gutenberg-Jahrbuch, 67 (1992), 198-235.

8. Cf. S.M. Bouchereaux, 'Les beaux livres parisiens de Gilles Corrozet', De Gulden Passer, 28 (1950), 71-86; M. Vène, 'Gilles Corrozet (1510-1568): libraire parisien, poète, historien. Un esprit de la Renaissance', École Nationale des Chartes. Positions des thèses (Paris, 1996), pp. 297-306. 9. A. Saunders, 'The Sixteenth-Century French Emblem Book: Writers and Printers' and A. Saunders, The Sixteenth-Century French Emblem Book, pp. 62-70. 10. For De Passe's emblems see I. Veldman's paper in this book; for his Liber Genesis, P. van der Coelen a.o., Patriarchs, p. 152, no. 54. Cf. for Visscher my essay 'Claes Jansz. Visschers bijbelse prentenboeken', De Boekenwereld, 11 (1994-5), 10620. 11. Cf. D.S. Russell, The Emblem and Device, pp. 170-2; P. Visser, Broeders in de geest, I, pp. 371-448. 12. See my essay 'Something for Everyone? The Marketing of Old Testament Prints in Holland's Golden Age' in P. van der Coelen a.o., Patriarchs, pp. 37-61. 13. For Salomon's picture Bible, see H. Schubart, Die Bibelillustration des Bernard Salomon (Hamburg, 1932). 14. Cf. M.S. Soria, 'Sorne Flemish Sources of Baroque Painting in Spain', The Art Bulletin, 30 (1948), 249-59 (pp. 252-3). 15. For the library ofVelazquez, see F.J. Sanchez Canton, 'La libreria de Velazquez', in Homenaje ofrecido a Menéndez Pidal. Miscekinea de estudios lingüisticos, literarios e hist6ricos (Madrid, 1925), III, pp. 379-406 (p. 398, no. 80). 16. B. van Selm, 'De bibliotheek van Pieter Saenredam', Kunstschrift, 32 (1988), 149; E. Duverger, Antwerpse kunstinventarissen uit de zeventiende eeuw, Fontes Historiae Artis Neerlandicae. Bronnen voor de kunstgeschiedenis van de Nederlanden, 1 (Brussels, 1984ff.), nos 247 and 1025. Cf. for artists' libraries, J. Bialostocki, 'Doctus Artifex and the Library of the Artist in XVIth and XVIIth Century', in De arte et libris: Festschrift Erasmus, ed. A. Horodisch (Amsterdam, 1984), pp. 11-22. 17. Cf. A. Saunders, The Sixteenth-Century French Emblem Book, pp. 263-79.

278

Van der Coelen

18. R.B. Bottigheimer, 'Martin Luther's Children's Bible', Wolfenbütteler Notizen zur Buchgeschichte, 15 (1990), 152-61. Cf. R.B. Bottigheimer, The Bible for Children. From the Age of Gutenberg ta the Present (New Haven and London, 1996), pp. 23-37. 19. M. Engammare, 'Les Figures de la Bible', p. 561, note 51. Cf. for children's books in the early modem age, De hele Bibelebontse berg. De geschiedenis van het kinderboek in Nederland en Vlaanderen van de middeleeuwen tot heden, ed. N. Heimeriks and W. van Toom (Amsterdam, 1990), esp. pp. 105-67. 20. Cf. P. van der Coelen, 'Something for Everyone', pp. 54-5. 21. Journal de Jean Héroard, ed. M. Foisil, 2 vols (s.l., 1989), I, pp. 147-54. Cf. M. Foisil, La vie quotidienne au temps de Louis XIII (Paris, 1992), pp. 147-9. A case study on Louis' use of books and prints is included in my book De Schrift verbeeld: oudtestamentische prenten uit renaissance en barok, Nijmeegse kunsthistorische Studies, 5 (Nijmegen, 1998), pp. 262-86. 22. Journal de Jean Héroard, 3-1-1605 and 14-3-1605. 23. Journal de Jean Héroard, 16-2-1605: 'Esveillé a sept heures après minuict, doulcement. S'amuse dans son Iict aux emblemes d' Alciat; il en recognoissoit beaucoup'. 24. R. Chartier, 'Culture as Appropriation: Popular Cultural Uses in Early Modem France', in Understanding Popular Culture. Europe from the Middle Ages ta the Nineteenth Century, ed. S.L. Kaplan (Berlin, New York and Amsterdam, 1984), pp. 229-53 (p. 234). Cf. R. Chartier, L'ordre des livres. Lecteurs, auteurs, bibliothèques en Europe entre X/Ve et XVIIIe siècle (Aix-en-Provence, 1992), pp. 13-33. 25. Journal de Jean Héroard, 30-9-161 O. Cf. Journal de Jean Héroard sur l'enfance et la jeunesse de Louis XIII (1601-1628) extrait des manuscrits originaux, ed. E. Soulié and Ed. de Barthélemy, 2 vols (Paris, 1868), II, p. 25. E.W. Marvick, Louis XIII: The Making ofa King (New Heaven and London, 1986), p. 115.

THE EUROPEAN RECEPTION OF THE LOW-COUNTRIES EMBLEM TRADITION

Fable and Emblem in The Fall ofMan (1592) by Cornelis van Haarlem PAUL J. SMITH R.U. Leiden In the vast output of the Dutch painter Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem (1562-1638), the painting The Fall of Man, also known under the titles Adam and Eve or The Fall ofAdam and Eve, maintains an important place. Cornelis appears to have completed no Jess than five paintings depicting The Fall of Man. 1 Wh ile most of them originate from the later period of Cornelis' s production, his so-called 'classical' period, the most impressive and best known is the one briefly mentioned by Karel van Mander in his Schilderboek [Painter's Book] (1604): 'In the Prinsenhof at Haarlem [... ] there is also, above a door, a big, vertical, marvelously painted work with life-sized figures, representing Adam and Eve' .2 Cornelis completed this work in 1592. This painting, which is in reality more than life-sized, is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam. Due to the dark colors used in the original, the black and white reproduction of the painting which accompanies this article may not adequately show the various details discussed here (Fig. 1). 1 will begin, therefore, by describing what the reader is expected to see. The central scene represents the tragic moment of the Fall. The Devi] (here traditionally represented as a beautiful child with a serpent's tail), offers the forbidden fruit to Eve, who passes it to Adam. As a whole the painting must be 'read' as a narrative sequence, from the left side to the right. At the left Man's creation by God is depicted, and God is veiled in a white cloud; the Fall of Man is represented in the middle; and at the right, the deplorable situation of Mankind after the Pail. This narrative is underscored by the passage from light to dark, day to night, good to evil, and by the symbolic presentation of some animais. These animais are not merely meant to create the picturesque ambiance of the Earthly Paradise, but they have a symbolic meaning which can be interpreted in the context of emblematics. In this respect, the most important animais are the following: in the centre of the picture between Adam and Eve, there is a monkey embracing a cat; at the bottom behind the tree, the head of a bear is seen looking at the scenery before him; at the front left are a large dog and a fox; in the left background, there is a set of various light-coloured

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animais, of which the most curious are a white stork, a white turkey and a pale grey animal which on close inspection turns out to be a porcupine. Ali of these animais are standing around the Godly cloud. Furthermore, there is an owl (a barn owl to be precise) perched on the Tree of Knowledge in the middle; a little butterfly is poised on the trunk of the same tree; and there is a hedgehog behind Eve's foot. At the right, almost invisible in the dark, there are two important animais. In the very background the curling figure of a dragon, and in the dark, directly behind Eve, there is a huge head of a lion looking out of the picture directly at the viewer. Because this lion is generally not immediately perceived in the shiny dark coloured original (let alone in the reproduction), it creates a deliberate shock for the viewer, once it is noticed. In order to explain the symbolism of the painting and to appreciate its originality, one has to bear in mind the direct source of Cornelis's painting: the famous engraving by Albrecht Dürer, usually known under the titles Fall of Man or Adam and Eve (1504; Fig. 2).3 The entire position of Cornelis's Adam is based on Dürer's Adam (while Eve's position is directly or indirectly inspired by another engraving, Andromeda, made by Hendrik Goltzius [1583]).4 The Dürer engraving also displays a number of animais, ail at rest, thus symbolising their peaceful co-existence which characterised the felicitous period preceding the Pail: a parrot, symbol of wisdom, an indolent cat facing an inert mouse (who, against his post-lapsarian nature, does not run away), a hare (or rabbit) which is sitting instead of fleeing; a resting ox (not yet labouring with Man who, after the Pail, will earn his bread by the sweat of his brow). The only animal in movement is the elk - or maybe it is a stag which is itself a symbol of movement and change and of Man's future Redemption.5 According to Erwin Panofsky, Dürer's whole animal scene has to be interpreted in terms of the four temperaments or humores. 6 In my opinion, this interpretation is not entirely unproblematic, but 1 discuss this elsewhere. One of the specialists on Cornelis van Haarlem, Pieter van Thiel, has interpreted the central cat-monkey scene of Cornelis's Fall of Man in the same way as Panofsky did for Dürer's engraving. According to his interpretation, There is good reason to believe that the inclusion of this amusingly posed pair of animais, here making their first appearance in iconography, was prompted by the scholastic doctrine that associated the fall with the theory of the four temperaments. The sanguine ape is beside Adam, the hothead who yields to temptation, and the choleric cat is beside Eve to exemplify her cruel cunning.7

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In my opinion, this interpretation is not entirely justified, particularly because the monkey-cat pair is well-known from before Cornelis's Fall of Man. As Dirk Geirnaert and 1 have shown in another contribution to this volume, the monkey and cat motif can be traced back to an emblem book by Johannes Sambucus published in 1564 by Plantin at Antwerp (and immediately translated into French and Dutch). This collection, one of the first real Dutch emblem books, contains an emblem on a monkey and a dog. The monkey uses the paw of a little, sleeping dog to get the chestnuts out of the fire. This emblem is transformed into the emblematic fable The Monkey and the Cat (Fig. 3), which appears in the Dutch fable collection De warachtighe fabulen der dieren [The Truthful Fables of the Animais], published in 1567, written by the rhetorician Eduard de Dene, and marvellously illustrated by the painter Marcus Gheeraerts the Eider. How should we understand this emblem in the context of Paradise and the Fall of Man? Like Dürer's mouse and cat, Cornelis's cat and monkey live peacefully together. They are even friends. The one does not (yet) dominate nor misuse the other. Thus, this scene reflects the harmonious situation before the Fall; that is, the time of paradisal felicity and peace. The scene seems to imply that, after the Fall, things will change radically. This central theme invites the beholder to interpret the animal symbolism of the whole picture in the light of the contemporary emblem and fable books. In fact, there is one detail that seems to justify an emblematic and Aesopian reading of the painting. The Tree of Knowledge, in the very middle of the picture, is partly stripped, in line with the traditional image of the bark, whose rough outside bides an inner wisdom. By including this image, which is a stock motif in fable and emblem theory, Cornelis seems to invite the beholder to look for a deeper meaning, to practice an allegorical and emblematic reading. Before going any further along this emblematic line of thinking, let me note that the collection De warachtighe fabulen der dieren was probably known by Cornelis van Haarlem. The book was mentioned by Karel van Mander and translated in the 1570s into French (Esbatement moral des animaux, 1578), and Latin (Arnoldus Freitag, Mythologia ethica, 1579), and later into English (Arthur Golding, A Moral Fable-Talk, manuscript, ca. 1590) and German (Egidius Sadeleer, Theatrum morum, 1608), and reworked in Dutch by the great Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel (Vorsteliicke Warande der dieren, 1617). 8 Gheeraerts' s etchings were imitated by various painters. As Lubomir Konecny recently stated:

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Gheeraerts' compositions clearly dominated the field of the illustrated fable north of the Alps from Prague to London and from 1567 far into the mid-eighteenth century. They determined, to a radical degree, the contemporary notion of the visual form of the fable narrative. Their impact spread like rings on water.9 They were also used to represent the Earthly Paradise in a well known Latin emblem book, written by the Spanish Jesuit Arias Montanus, Humanae salutis monumenta, published by Plantin in 1571.10 Arias Montanus (or at least his illustrator Pieter van der Borght) appears to have known De warachtighe fabulen der dieren. The third emblem of the Humanae salutis monumenta (Fig. 4) represents the moment just before the Fall when Eve calls Adam to corne and see the serpent. This serpent is most obviously inspired by the one Marcus Gheeraerts represented in the fable The Serpent and Jupiter (Fig. 5), in which the reptile offers a rose to Jupiter. The moral of the fable (never accepta present from untrustworthy people) is, of course, very applicable to the story of Adam and Eve. In Arias Montanus's illustration, the represented animals are disposed in an oppositional way. In contrast to the curling serpent, most of the animals in the background are at rest (just as in Dürer and Cornelis). Most striking is the hare (or rabbit) we find in Dürer as well as in Arias Montanus, sitting behind Adam and Eve. In the fourth emblem of the collection, which represents the situation just after the Fall (Fig. 6), the disposition of the animals is reversed: the snake has corne to rest (condemned as it was to earthly dust) whereas the other animals are taken by panic. Striking is the lion who replaces, just as in Cornelis' s painting, the rabbit behind Eve. Elsewhere in the Arias Montanus collection other animais are only rarely represented. The most notable exceptions are the ornamental frames in the first impression. As is shown in the illustrations (a), (b) and (c) of Fig. 7, the three animais represented at the bottom of the frame of Fig. 4 (the lion, lamb and wolf) ail corne directly from Gheeraerts's illustrations for De warachtighe fabulen der dieren. The same goes for the animais represented on the frame of Fig. 6: the wolf killing a sheep, and the stork catching a frog corne from the Gheeraerts's illustrations for the fables The Wolves and the Sheep and Jupiter and the Frogs. After this brief digression meant to demonstrate the handling of De warachtighe fabulen der dieren in a biblical context, let us retum to the animais in Comelis's painting. Sorne of them are to be interpreted in the Aesopian context of De warachtighe fabulen der dieren. Thus, besides the monkey and cat pair, we find the fox and eft:ttt' mufitt; b~ne a..rl,&t1i· d°eu.I' "iJtufi't 9Jart"a, qu "d /ati.r e./è, manu • Figure 4 Wenceslaus Hollar, 'Quod satis est cui contigit nihil amplius optat', Emblemata Nova. Photo: University of Toronto, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, signature P 449.

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