MEA VITA PER IGNEM.

[No source given]
Hei fatum crudele mihi! mea vita per ignes
Crescit, & in medijs ignibus esse iuuat.
Me nutrit, veluti salamandram, Cyprius ardor:
Plus iuuat in te, quàm te sine flamma mori.

Loue liueth by fyre.

Vnhu’rt amidds the fyre the Salamander liues,
The louer in the fyre of loue delight doth take,
Where loue thereby to liue his nouriture doth make,
What others doth destroy lyf to the louer giues.

Nel foco viuo.

Viue la salamandra in foco ardente,
E nel foco d’Amor viue l’amante,
Quest’ è suo cibo, e gioia trionfante.
In quel, ch’ altrui dà morte, ei vita sente.

’t Vier is mijn leuen.

Het vier niet en verteert/ maer voet den salamander:
Den minnaer in den brandt van Liefde heeft sijn lust/
Het vier sijn voedsel is/ sijn blijschap en sijn rust.
Den minnaer leeft by ’t gheen dat steruen doet een ander.

Mort à autruy, à moy vie.

Au feu sans se brusler se tient la salamandre:
l’Amant au feu d’Amour iouit de son desir,
Sa nourriture il est, sa ioye, & son plaisir.
Ce qu’autruy fait mourir, à luy la vie engendre.

229 ↓

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Facsimile Images

228, LEI:

228, LDF:

228, LIF:

229, pictura:

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Translations

[Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria 6]. Ik leef van het vuur.

[Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria 6]. I live by fire.

Ach, wat een wreed lot heb ik! Mijn leven groeit door vuur en ik moet midden in het vuur zijn. Zoals de salamander wordt gevoed door vuur, zo word ik gevoed door Venus' vuur: o vlam, ik wil liever in jou dan zonder jou verbranden.

Ah, what a cruel fate is mine! My life grows by fire and I have to be in the middle of a fire. Like the salamander is fed by fire, I am fed by Venus' fire: o flame, I would rather die in you than without you.

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Literature

Henkel and Schöne, Emblemata, col. 739
Praz, Seventeenth-Century Imagery, pp. 85,113
Sebastiàn, Lectura crítica, p. 46

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Sources and parallels

A autruy mort, a moy vie [6] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria (1607/8)) [Compare]
, embl. 30
Parallel (and probably source) for the emblem (motto, Latin subscriptio and pictura): A autruy mort, a moy vie [6] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Quaeris quid sit Amor (c. 1601)) [Compare]
Parallel for the motto, pictura and subscriptio in: A autruy mort, a moy vie. [30] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Ambacht van Cupido, from: Nederduytsche poemata (1616)) [Compare]
Parallel for the pictura (mirrored) and some mottoes (Latin, Italian, French) in: Une Salamandre au feu (in: Daniel de la Feuille, Devises et emblemes (1691)) [Compare]
The French motto of Vaenius meaning the same as the Latin and French motto in:Tibi mors, mihi vita. [31] (in: Jacob Cats, Sinne- en minnebeelden (1627)) [Compare]

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References, across this site, to this page:

Tibi mors, mihi vita. [31] (in: Jacob Cats, Sinne- en minnebeelden (1627))
Une Salamandre au feu (in: Daniel de la Feuille, Devises et emblemes (1691))
A autruy mort, a moy vie [6] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Quaeris quid sit Amor (c. 1601))
A autruy mort, a moy vie [6] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria (1607/8))
A autruy mort, a moy vie. [30] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Ambacht van Cupido (1613))
A autruy mort, a moy vie. [30] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Ambacht van Cupido, from: Nederduytsche poemata (1616))

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Iconclass

Cupid with two torches hovering above a salamander in a fire

fire (one of the four elements) [21C]
salamander (fabulous animal); salamander as spirit of fire [25FF412]
rocks [25H112]
flying [31A2762]
camp-fire; watch-fire [41B16]
torch (+ kindling a light; lit, burning light, lamp, candle) [41B32(+1)]
(personifications and symbolic representations of) Love; 'Amore (secondo Seneca)' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56F2(+4)]
Vitality, Viability, Vital Force (+ emblematical representation of concept) [58B1(+4)]
proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT) [86(MEA VITA PER IGNEM)]
other non-aggressive activities of Cupid [92D156]
attributes of Cupid (with NAME) [92D18(TORCH)]

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Comments

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Mea vita per ignem [115]

Facsimile Images

Translations

Literature

Sources and parallels

References, across this site, to this page:

Iconclass

Comments

Notes