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Original fileDe triomfwagen van de Oorlog
About This Work
Bellum sits enthroned in a chariot driven by Furor and Rebellio, trampling personified Cruelty while riding through a landscape of sieges and naval battles. To the right, a winding path reveals a historical lineage of warriors including Abraham, David, and Samson, while an angelic Victoria hovers above the carnage. The print is dense with Latin inscriptions identifying specific sins and consequences of war, framing the conflict as both a physical and moral catastrophe.
Engraved during the Eighty Years' War, this work exemplifies the Netherlandish use of complex allegory to process political trauma through a biblical and Neostoic lens. It draws upon the Petrarchan tradition of 'Triumphs' to illustrate the destructive cycle of human ambition and the inevitability of divine judgment.