History of Monsters 275

sitting on a chair, her feet bound in shackles, to signify the modesty and domestic guardianship expected of wives. For this reason, I remember seeing an image of Venus standing upon a tortoise with the title: THE WIFE AS GUARDIAN OF THE HOME. To these, Alciatus adds an image of three girls casting lots to inquire which of them was destined by fate to die, with the title: MISFORTUNES ARE ALWAYS AT HAND. For the one who saw, by the cast of the lot, that death was looming over her, neglected the omen with laughter; yet she soon ended her life when a roof tile suddenly fell upon her head. From this, the truth of the adage is proven: that evils befall even those who do not seek them, while good things hardly come even to those who do. Furthermore, Camerarius shows an image of a woman with a peacock, and other authors propose many similar examples which should be read and weighed in their own works.

Finally, if we consider half-humans, or rather human statues expressed in emblems, one first observes in Alciatus a figure of a man human down to the navel, while his lower parts have the form of a serpent. This figure seems to lift its right hand toward heaven, with the title: HUMAN WISDOM IS FOOLISHNESS BEFORE GOD. This emblem is directed at those who are filled with a celestial spirit and a rational soul, yet always occupy themselves with earthly matters; neglecting their better condition, they degenerate into a beast-like nature, never meditating on higher things but crawling on the ground. Regarding this figure, one should read the fourth book of the *Anthology*.

In the same Alciatus, a man is depicted down to the navel, for the rest of him is a square stone, with the title: THE BOUNDARY. However, I remember seeing this image elsewhere decorated with a different inscription, namely: I YIELD TO NONE. This icon represents the god Terminus, who would not yield even to Jupiter himself. Thus it signifies the final day, or the boundary of death, beyond which one is not permitted to pass—except that the boundary also demonstrates stability and immovability.

Florentius, moreover, painted a human skeleton crowned with a royal diadem, holding a scepter in its right hand, and this title in its left: LIFE IS LIVED THROUGH GENIUS. In this way, he reveals that all things are vain except for the fame a man acquires while living, for thereafter, even in death, he lives perpetually through the mouths of men. On this subject, Ovid sang:

"Virtue lives on through writings, and, free from the grave, holds the notice of late posterity."

Toward the end, Costalius presents a human statue atop a column, upon whose face the sun seems to cast its rays, with the inscription: AGAINST ADVOCATES. To understand this, one must know that the statue of Memnon in Ethiopia was crafted with such skill that whenever the golden rays of the sun touched its mouth, it would give forth a sound like a voice. By this image, the author describes greedy lawyers, who do not speak unless the brightness of gold illuminates their eyes. Not without reason, then, did the poet sing:

"The legal expert promises, and receives his gold."

Now we must turn to emblems in which several human figures are seen together. Reusner paints Deucalion and Pyrrha restoring the human race with stones, with the inscription: A THOUSAND SPECIES OF MEN. Elsewhere, the same author has drawn Adam and Eve beside the tree of the forbidden fruit, with the title: LIFE DEATH. Since man possesses free will to embrace whichever side he wishes, Alciatus depicted a man in a toga sitting in a chair, with Pallas at his right hand and Venus at his left, though he appears to be speaking to Venus. In this way, the author shows that a man devoted to virtue often abandons his studies to follow ruinous luxury.

To reveal men imbued with such vices, Costalius depicted several people eating from a bowl, with the title: DO NOT EAT FROM A BOWL. This was a symbol of Pythagoras used to indicate wicked men, whose fellowship was represented by the bowl. Vices must therefore be avoided, as Alciatus exhorts us with a picture of a man offering a pig's snout to several men, with the title: BETTER THINGS EVERY DAY. This signifies that one must progress toward the better every day, since a pig does not move backward while feeding but always moves forward. For this reason, not even a small particle of time should be allowed to slip away without some progress being made and some virtue acquired. Not unlike this was the symbol of Charles V, with the motto: FURTHER. Therefore, we might rightly and deservedly sing: