I came across an old drawing today that kept me puzzled for over an hour. Pictured on your left is a woodcut illustration of a late fifteenth century chapbook for some poems by Giuliano Dati, a prominent Italian poet. The first of these poems was entitled Treatise on the Supreme Prester John, Pope and Emperor of India and Ethiopia, while the second poem bore the slightly less magnanimous title of Second Song of India. The minor mystery that engaged me for an hour was the translation and meaning behind the inscription on the steps beneath the feet of Prester John:
FVGE SVPERBIAN TERMy Italian is not strong, but I knew enough to figure out that FVGE is a verb meaning "flee," and that the second word in each admonition corresponds to one of the seven deadly sins:
FVGE LVXVRIA DELIGNO
FVGE GVLAM DEPLVMBO
FVGE IRAM DE FERRO
FVGE INVIDIAM DECVPRO
FVGE ACIDIAM DEARGENTO
FVGE AVARITIAM DE AVRO
superbian = pride
luxuria = extravagance
gulam = gluttony
iram = wrath
invidiam = envy
acidiam = sloth
avaritiam = greed
I was previously unfamiliar, however, with the association of certain elements with the seven deadly sins. There are seven "planetary" metals in alchemy: gold, silver, mercury, copper, lead, iron, and tin.
Dan Brown would eat this stuff up. Call me, Dan-O.
