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Original fileAn elderly teacher sits at a raised desk in a study filled with books, instructing a group of young students who are reading and writing. The central image is framed by various moralizing scenes, including the sacrifice of Isaac and the story of Noah, alongside decorative cartouches containing Latin verses. Visual elements such as an hourglass and a lit candle emphasize the passage of time and the light of knowledge.
This print reflects the Mannerist focus on 'Sapientia' (Wisdom) and the pedagogical foundations of the Renaissance, where the 'fear of the Lord' was seen as the beginning of all knowledge. It serves as a visual bridge between orthodox Christian education and the broader Western search for divine wisdom found in Neoplatonic and Hermetic thought.
EDUCATIO LIBERORVM. Noli subtrahere a puero disciplina[m] si enim percusseris eu[m] uirga no[n] moriet[ur] Pro. 23. 13. Initium sapientia timor Domini. Psalmo. 110 Sapientia. Diuidite infantem uiuum in duas partes et date dimidiam partē uni et dimidiā partē alteri. 3. Reg. 3. 25 Obedietia. Tulit quoque ligna holocausti et imposuit super Isaac filium suum. Gen. 22. 6. Verecundia. At uero Sem et Japhet pallium imposuerūt humeris suis et incidentes retrorsu[m] operuerūt uerenda prīs sui faciesque eorū auersa erāt et prīs uirilia non uiderunt. Gen. 9. 23. Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam si enim percußeris eum uirga non morietur. Tu uirga percuties eum et animam eius de inferno liberabis. Prouer. 23. 13. 14.
Translation
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Prov. 23. 13. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 110. Wisdom. Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 3 Kings 3. 25. Obedience. And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son. Gen. 22. 6. Modesty. But Sem and Japhet put a garment upon their shoulders, and going backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness. Gen. 9. 23. Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell. Prov. 23. 13. 14.
Proverbs (Solomon)
The print is an extensive visual commentary on Solomonic wisdom literature, specifically the concept of 'Initium sapientiae timor Domini' (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom).
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 252 mm x width 193 mm
allegory
Linked Data
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