Plate I, from a series of six illustrations for Aesop's Fable, 'The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey' (Chi vuol de l'opra sua far pago ogn'uno se stesso offende e non contenta alcuno)

Inscriptions

In plate, upper center: Chi vuol de l'opra sua far pago ogn'uno se stesso offende e non contenta alcuno (translation: "He who acts to please others hurts himself and will please none"); in plate, upper left, numbered: 1; in plate, lower left, signed: G. M. Mitelli F.; in plate, bottom left: L'Asino vuo' montar: perch'io gia' sento / Dir tutti, oh che merlotti, oh che pazzia.'; in plate, bottom right: Ch' in vece di montar su' quel giumento / Voglion col piede faticar per via.

Published References

Bertarelli, Achille, Le incisioni di Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Milan: Comune di Milano, 1940, nos. 575-580. Donderi, Bruno, "Giovanni Maria Verdizzotti: un favolista italiano del Cinquecento," Ambra 6 (2005): pp. 50-65. Wallace, Richard, "Giuseppe Maria Mitelli," in Italian Etchers of the Renaissance and Baroque, exhib. cat., edited by Sue Reed and Richard Wallace, Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989, pp. 145-146.

Provenance

Barbara G. and Stephen A. Bergquist, Needham, Massachusetts; given to present collection, 2011.

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