Book Title: Andreae Alciati emblematvm libellvs.

Author: Alciati, Andrea, 1492-1550

Image Title: Marriage Requires Respect

Description: The pictura of this emblem by the Italian jurist and writer Andrea Alciato (1492 – 1550 CE) features a female viper courting a moray eel from the seashore. According to Renaissance books on natural history, the female viper attracts the male moray eel by ejecting poisons from its gut, thus rendering itself suitable for mating. In the subscriptio, Alciato draws the lesson that partners in marriage owe each other reciprocal allegiance.

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