Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)
28. VULPES. (Perry 27)
IN fabricam Vulpes irrepens invenit illic
Effigies, formae quae variantis erant.
Est contemplantem quas mira secuta voluptas,
Diversas specie dulce videre fuit.
Hanc tamen effigies inprimis una iuvabat,
Virgineum facie rettulit illa decus.
Accedens hanc alloquio dignatur amico,
Verbaque blanditias experientis habet.
Quod tamen haec gestu caret usque moventis imago,
Nempe ferens Vulpes impatienter ait:
Hanc est effigiem cur tanta secuta venustas,
Cui facies cerebro tam speciosa caret?
Sunt quos eximii commendent corporis artus,
At vitio> stolidae mentis hebere solent.
Phryx Aesopus Habitu Poetico, by Hieronymus Osius, 1574 (artist not identified). Available online at the University of Mannheim. This book clearly recycles a set of images from another book of Aesop's fables. In some cases, the illustration does not match the fable shown, and in some cases I have not been able to identify what fable a given illustration is supposed to illustrate. |
