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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileCadmus is shown kneeling in a ruined classical temple before a statue of the god Apollo, who holds a bow and points toward the horizon. In the background, a small figure is seen following a heifer, illustrating the oracle's command that Cadmus should follow a cow to the site where he must found the city of Thebes. The engraving features the dense, rhythmic linework and dramatic musculature typical of the Dutch Mannerist style.
Based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, this scene was interpreted by Renaissance humanists as an allegory for the 'divine quest' and the pursuit of hidden wisdom through revelation. In the Western esoteric tradition, the story of Cadmus—slayer of the dragon and founder of a sacred city—served as a recurring motif for the alchemical purification of matter and the establishment of a new philosophical order.
I Europam toto frustra dum quæryt orbe Impia Iussa Patris fugiens, Patriamq, Patremq Vitat Agenorides, Phoebiq, oracula supplex Consulit, et quæ sit tellus habitanda requirit. G. Ryckius Ano 1615 HG. inventor Robbertus de Baudous exc.
Translation
I While he seeks Europe in vain throughout the whole world, Fleeing the impious commands of his father, and avoiding both his country and his father, The son of Agenor, as a suppliant, consults the oracles of Phoebus, And asks what land is to be inhabited. G. Ryckius Year 1615 HG. inventor, Robbertus de Baudous excudit.
Ovid, Metamorphoses
The primary literary source for the narrative of Cadmus, which was a fundamental text for Renaissance mythological and esoteric interpretation.
Natalis Comes, Mythologiae
A key contemporary mythography that provided moral and philosophical explanations for the Cadmus myth.
Object
Engraving
mythological
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Image: http://collections.lacma.org/sites/default/files/remote_images/piction/ma-31890234-O3.jpg Gallery: https://collections.lacma.org/node/247427 archive copy at the Wayback Machine
Public domain
2100 × 1494 px
adb9afa579ee097d11ece74f30f4ebbc59aab837
July 19, 2013
March 23, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.