Anil Sahal wrote: ‘Whilst examining a picture of the beautiful actress Angelina Jolie (for scientific reasons, of course), I noticed a tattoo over her stomach which reads "Quod me nutrit me destruit" which I think translates as "That which nourishes me, destroys me". Can you shed any light on the origin of this?'Well, yes, how delightful. My research shows that Ms Jolie is actually covered in tattoos – though this one looks more as if it was written with a felt-tipped pen. Desiree van den Berg steered me towards the origin of the motto. It appears in capital letters at the top left-hand corner of a portrait of a young man that was rescued from builders' rubbish at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in the 1950s. On the basis that lettering next to the motto describes him as being aged 21 in 1585, the man is thought to be Christopher Marlowe, the future playwright, who obtained his BA at the college in that year and at that age. The Latin words have not been found in classical texts but bear a resemblance to some lines by Shakespeare (written a few years later): ‘Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by' (Sonnet 73) and ‘A burning torch that's turned upside down; / The word, Qui me alit, me extinguit [Who feeds me extinguishes me]' (Pericles, II.ii.33).
A.D. Wraight wrote in 1965 that, if the portrait is of Marlowe, then the motto refers to his poetic muse ‘which both inspired and nourished him, and yet consumed him with its fiery genius'. But what all this has to do with the stomach of the delectable Tomb Raider actress is anybody's guess (Q1985).
Copyright © 1992 by Nigel Rees