An elderly scholar, clad in a purplish-brown skullcap and fur-trimmed tabard, is seated at his study before an open book. With clenched chin and furrowed brow, he cautiously attempts to slice the tip of a quill pen,
using the soft pad of his thumb to balance the tip against the pressure of his blade. Concentrating on the precision of his task, he peers intently at the quill through gold-trimmed spectacles perched at the end
of his nose.
The theme of the contemplative scholar at work in his study was a favorite of Dutch artists. Gerrit Dou, however, has here shown a different type of scholarly concern, the need to prepare his writing instrument to
allow for the proper transmission of his thoughts to the thick tome before him. In the Dutch emblematic world, this activity symbolized the notion of Practice, one of three Aristotelian precepts, along with Nature
and Education, essential for a successful and virtuous upbringing. The notion of sharpening one’s intellect through practice was exemplified by the Latin idiom nil penna sed usus (“not the pen but its use”), and
was illustrated in emblematic literature by the ostrich, a flightless bird whose feather quills were used for writing.
百度翻译：http://fanyi.baidu.com
