Emblematic Representation, 1600

About the Work

The copper panel portrays the lawless pursuits of mankind before the Flood with complexly contorted nude figures featuring elegantly elongated limbs. Only upon closer inspection do we discover – beneath the stormdarkened sky in the background – the construction site of the ark which will save Noah and his family from the judgement of God. On the back of the panel, an emblem comments on the event. The learned contemporary will have been able to decipher the individual motifs in this picture puzzle and recognized the relationship they bear to the Biblical scene.