MEDIO TVTISSIMVS IBIS.

Ouid.
Daedalus, en medium tenet, extrema Icarus; ille,
Transuolat, hic mersus nomine signat aquas.
Gaudet Amor medio, nec summa nec infima quaerit;
Si qua voles aptè nubere, nube pari.

Fly in the middest.

See that thy cours bee right with Dedalus addrest,
For if thow fly to high disdayn may thee disgrace,
Or if to low thow fly thow doest thy self debase,
For lyke to loue his lyke befitteth euer best.

Tienti al mezzo.

Di Dedalo, e del figlio habbi lo specchio,
Segui la via di mezzo, affrena il passo,
Tropp’ alto non volar, ne troppo basso,
Il meglio è d’amar sempre il suo parecchio.

Te midden is ’t beste.

In ’t vrijen ’t middel-padt met Dedalus volght wijslick/
Met Icarus te hoogh en vlieght niet onbedacht/
Te leegh oock niet bemint/soo werdy niet veracht,
Te vrijen sijns ghelijck is t’allen tijden prijslick.

Au milieu plus seur.

Le sentier du milieu retien auec Dedale,
Et adresse ton vol ny trop haut, ny trop bas,
Il faut de tout en tout se reigler au compas:
Aussi est le meuilleur aimer partie esgale.

43 ↓

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Facsimile Images

42, LEI:

42, LDF:

42, LIF:

43, pictura:

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Translations

Ovidius, Metamorphoses 2, 137

Het veiligst kun je gaan in het midden.

Ovidius, Metamorphoses 2, 137

In the middle is the safest path.

Ovidius

Zie, Daedalus houdt het midden, Icarus gaat te hoog. De eerste vliegt door, de tweede valt in het water en geeft dat zijn naam. Liefde houdt van de middenweg en zoekt niet de top of de bodem; als je goed wilt trouwen, trouw dan met je gelijke.

Ovidius

Look, Daedalus keeps the middle, Icarus flies too high. The first flies on, the second falls into the water and gives it his name. Love loves the golden mean and does not seek for high or low; if you want to marry well, then marry your like.

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Literature

Henkel and Schöne, Emblemata, col. 1617
Praz, Seventeenth-Century Imagery, p. 102
Sebastiàn, Lectura crítica, p. 23

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Sources and parallels

Medio tutissimus ibis [16] (in: Otto Vaenius, Emblemata aliquot selectiora amatoria (1618)) [Compare]
Contradicts, as noticed by Daly: (in: , ) [Compare]
Alciato, Book of Emblems, embl. 104
Same motto: Animi servitus. [11] (in: Otto Vaenius, Q. Horatii Flacci Emblemata (1612)) [Compare]

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References, across this site, to this page:

Animi servitus. [11] (in: Otto Vaenius, Q. Horatii Flacci Emblemata (1612))
Medio tutissimus ibis [16] (in: Otto Vaenius, Emblemata aliquot selectiora amatoria (1618))

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Iconclass

A cupid, holding compasses, points at Icarus, falling from the sky

sun as celestial body [24A]
cultivated land [25H18]
landscapes with waters, waterscapes, seascapes (in the temperate zone) [25H2]
sitting on the ground [31A2351]
index finger forwards, pointing, indicating [31A25552]
flying [31A2762]
falling through the air [31A2764]
quiver [45C23]
ploughing [47I123]
compasses [49D5111]
the Golden Mean; 'Mediocrité' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A431(+4)]
(personifications and symbolic representations of) Love; 'Amore (secondo Seneca)' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56F2(+4)]
proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT) [86(MEDIO TUTISSIMUS IBIS)]
other non-aggressive activities of Cupid [92D156]
attributes of Cupid (with NAME) [92D18(QUIVER)]
death i.e. the fall of Icarus (Daedalus present) [95A(ICARUS)68]

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Comments

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Medio tutissimus ibis [22]

Facsimile Images

Translations

Literature

Sources and parallels

References, across this site, to this page:

Iconclass

Comments

Notes