AMOR, QVI DESINERE POTEST, NVMQVAM
VERVS FVIT.

[Gratianus, Decretum

, l1/l2/l3/l4/l5/plv/plp/plc. 2/33/3/2/2/187/1564/B]

[Paulinus, De salutaribus

, ch/plv/plp/plc. 7/99/0202/A]

[Hieronymus, Epistolae

, epist/sect/plv/plp. 3/6/22/335]

Senec.
Si cruci affigatur, si igni comburatur, semper
amat qui verè amans est.

Loue in enduring death.

If loues beloued should, all mortall hatred shew,
Gainst him by swoord & fyre, by torment & by death,
Yet constant hee remaynes, whyle hee hath anie breath,
True loue in death it self, none can vnconstant know.

Sempre costante.

Se l’amata al’ amante è cruda, e giostra,
E à foco e sangue lo guerreggia e sface,
Non sen vengia il meschin, ma soffre, e tace.
Ancho in morte l’Amor costanza mostra.

Ja tot in den doot.

Doet vry v best’ mijn Lief met duysent pijnen lastigh/
Verbrant mijn in het vier van v verstoort ghemoet/
Ick en begheer gheen wraeck/ maer neem’ het al in ’t goed’
Want ware liefd’ alleen blijft in den doot stantvastigh.

Ny mesme la mort.

Si la Dame à l’amant fait la guerre à outrance,
Voire que par son feu le contraigne mourir,
l’Amant ne s’en ressent, ains aime de souffrir.
l’Amour mesme en la mort ne manque de constance.

185 ↓

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Facsimile Images

184, LEI:

184, LDF:

184, LIF:

185, pictura:

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Translations

Liefde die kan eindigen, was nooit ware liefde.

Love that can end, was never true.

[Seneca] Zelfs al wordt hij aan het kruis genageld of in een vuur verbrand, dan nog al een echt minnaar liefhebben.

[Seneca] Even if he is nailed to the cross or burnt in a fire, a real lover will always love.

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Literature

Praz, Seventeenth-Century Imagery, pp. 104-105
Sebastiàn, Lectura crítica, p. 42

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Sources and parallels

Amor, qui desinere potest, nunquam verus fuit [53] (in: Otto Vaenius, Emblemata aliquot selectiora amatoria (1618)) [Compare]
Porteman compares this emblem to: Martyrium amoris. [35] (in: anonymous, Amoris divini et humani antipathia (1628)) [Compare]
Ayres, Emblemata amatoria, embl. 22
Alciato, Book of Emblems, embl. 111
A parallel (and probably source) for the motto, emblem carries another meaning: Ni mesme la mort [17] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Quaeris quid sit Amor (c. 1601)) [Compare]
A parallel (and probably source) for the motto, emblem carries another meaning: Ni mesme la mort [17] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria (1607/8)) [Compare]
Parallel for the pictura (mirrored, background less detailed) and for the Italian motto (as a part of): Un Amour attaché à une Colomne environnée d’un feu qu’une Dame attire (in: Daniel de la Feuille, Devises et emblemes (1691)) [Compare]
A parallel (and probably source) for the motto, (the emblem carries another meaning): Ni mesme la mort [17] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria (1607/8)) [Compare]
Parallel for the Seneca quote, pictura and subject in: Constans est [35] (in: Otto Vaenius, Amoris divini emblemata (1615)) [Compare]
Pictura mirrored, different motto and Latin subscriptio, building in foreground, person being hanged by Cupid in background:Laus in amore mori. [22] (in: anonymous, Emblemata amatoria (1690)) [Compare]

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References, across this site, to this page:

Martyrium amoris. [35] (in: anonymous, Amoris divini et humani antipathia (1628))
Laus in amore mori. [22] (in: anonymous, Emblemata amatoria (1690))
Un Amour attaché à une Colomne environnée d’un feu qu’une Dame attire (in: Daniel de la Feuille, Devises et emblemes (1691))
Ni mesme la mort [17] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Quaeris quid sit Amor (c. 1601))
Ni mesme la mort [17] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria (1607/8))
Amor æternus [5] (in: Otto Vaenius, Amoris divini emblemata (1615))
Constans est [35] (in: Otto Vaenius, Amoris divini emblemata (1615))
Amor, qui desinere potest, nunquam verus fuit [53] (in: Otto Vaenius, Emblemata aliquot selectiora amatoria (1618))

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Iconclass

A woman stirring up the fire of the stake to which a cupid is tied

fire (one of the four elements) [21C]
landscape with tower or castle [25I5]
violent death by burning at the stake; pyre [31E23121]
couple of lovers (+ variant) [33C23(+0)]
Love vanquished; 'Amor Domato' (Ripa) [33C99]
burning as process: log [41B12(LOG)]
stirring up a fire [41B13]
instruments of torture, execution or punishment: stake [44G321(STAKE)]
agricultural implements: pitchfork [47I15(PITCHFORK)]
Constancy, Tenacity; 'Costanza', 'Tenacité' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [53A21(+4)]
(personifications and symbolic representations of) Love; 'Amore (secondo Seneca)' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56F2(+4)]
Mortality, Extinction of Life (+ emblematical representation of concept) [58BB1(+4)]
proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT) [86(AMOR, QUI DESINERE POTEST, NUMQUAM VERUS FUIT)]
punishment of Cupid [92D161]

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Comments

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Amor, qui desinere potest, numquam verus fuit [93]

Facsimile Images

Translations

Literature

Sources and parallels

References, across this site, to this page:

Iconclass

Comments

Notes