The phrase ''in ictu oculi'' is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

expression meaning "in the blink of an eye". One source is from the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, in 1 Corinthians 15:52: "''In momento, in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba''", translated in the

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

as "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:" where the Latin is itself a translation of the original

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

phrase (''en rhipēi ophthalmou''). The phrase was used by

Henry of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon ( la, Henricus Huntindoniensis; 1088 – AD 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), ...

on the rapid submission to the coronation of

Stephen of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne '' jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 u ...

in 1135: ''Sine mora, sine labore, quasi in ictu oculi.'' It also appears as part of the text to a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

Antoine Busnois Antoine Busnois (also Busnoys; – before 6 November 1492) was a French composer, singer and poet of early Renaissance music. Busnois and colleague Johannes Ockeghem were the leading European composers of the second half the 15th century, and ...

entitled "Gaude celestis Domina". The most notable use of the phrase in an English text is that by

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...

: ''which shall be found alive upon the earth, we say there shall be a sudden death, and a sudden resurrection; In raptu, in transitu, in ictu oculi'', where Donne gives an English-Latin paraphrase on the original context in 1 Corinthians 15.

Works of art

More than the original context of the phrase itself, the Latin may be better known as the title of a painting by

Juan de Valdés Leal Juan de Valdés Leal (4 May 1622 – 15 October 1690) was a Spanish painter and etcher of the Baroque era. Career Valdés was born in Seville in 1622. He became a painter, sculptor, and architect. By his twenties, he was studying under Anto ...

(4 May 1622 – 1690). This painting, an allegory of death (c.1671), is one of two large

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

allegorical

vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-kn ...

paintings, high, by Valdés Leal, painted for the Charity Hospital of Seville. The central character is a skeleton; on the floor lies an open coffin and symbols of wealth and power. The skeleton extinguishes a candle which represents life, and above the taper is written the Latin motto. A volume of Rubens' designs for Antwerp's triumphal arches for the 1634 reception of the new Spanish governor,

Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand (also known as Don Fernando de Austria, Cardenal-Infante Fernando de España and as Ferdinand von Österreich; May 1609 or 1610 – 9 November 1641) was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Catholic ...

, stands as a symbol of political disillusionment. The other painting of the pair is '' Finis Gloriae Mundi'', "End of worldly glory," which depicts a dead bishop and a knight. The painting is a reflection of the ''vanitas'' concept in Spanish music of the same period, as illustrated in ''in ictu oculi. Música española del siglo XVII'', a recording by the Spanish

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

ensemble Los Músicos de Su Alteza in 2002. The name has also been used for a painting by Diango Hernandez (born 1970) in 2004.

References

{{reflist, 2 Latin words and phrases Spanish paintings Still life paintings