At the center of the composition, a radiant Christ gestures toward a diverse group of figures who carry heavy chests, yokes, and bundles. The scene is densely packed with symbolic representations of human suffering and sin, each marked with a letter corresponding to biblical verses in the surrounding decorative border. The landscape stretches into the distance, featuring a fortified city and travelers on a winding path.
As a work by Hendrick Goltzius during his late period, this allegory exemplifies the Haarlem Mannerist transition toward complex, text-heavy moral emblems. It reflects the broader Northern European preoccupation with the 'interior landscape' of the soul and the use of visual art as a mnemonic tool for spiritual meditation, common in the circles of the 'Esoteric Engravers.'
Jesus Christpilgrimslaborerscripplesburdened womenhaloyokecrutchheavy chestamphora73C1248C901
LEVAMEN ONUSTORUM
Omnes sitientes venite ad aquas: et qui non habetis ar-
gentum, properate, emite, et comedite: venite, emite
absque argento, et absque ulla cōmutatione vinum et
lac. quare appenditis argētu. nō in panib?, et laborē vrū nō in sa-
turitate: Esai. 55.
VENITE AD ME OES QUI LABORATIS ET ONERATI ESTIS ET EGO REFICIAM VOS Math. 11.
G. Et stetit Jesus, et vo-
cauit eos, et ait, Quid vul-
tis ut faciam vobis? dicunt
illi, dñe ut aperiātur oculi
nri. misertus autē eorū Jesus.
Mat. 20.
H. et tangens ait
illi, volo, mundare.
Et cū dixisset, sta-
tim dißcessit ab eo
lepra, et mūdatus
est, Marc. 1.
I. O mulier magna
est fides tua: fiat tibi
sicut vis. Et sanata
est filia eius ex illa
hora. Matt. 15.
Solis autem illis
superposita erat
grauis nox, imago
tenebrarū, quæ su-
peruentura erat il-
lis. Jpsi ergo sibi e-
rant grauissimæ te-
nebræ. Sap. 17.
K. Alligāt onera
grauia et iportabi-
lia et iponūt in ete
Mat. 23.
L. Confractus est Bel, cōtri-
tus est Nabo, - onera ves-
tra graui pondere usque
ad lassitudinem. Esai. 46.
Quærite Dominum dum inueniri potest: inuocate eum
dum prope est. derelinquat ipius viam suam, et vir ini-
quus cogitationes suas, et reuertatur ad Dominum, et
miserebitur eius, et ad Deum nostrum, quoniam multus
est ad ignoscendum. Esaias. 55.
F. Unus est, et secundum
non habet, non filium, non
fratrem, et tamen labo-
rare non ceßat, nec sati-
atur oculi eius diuitijs.
Eccls. 4.
Et ecce talentum
plumbi portaba-
tur, et ecce mulier
una sedens in me-
dio amphoræ. Et
dixit, hæc est impi-
etas. Zach. 5.
E. Cor nequā
grauabitur dolo-
ribus. Ecclesias.
cap. 3.
C. Et ecce mulier
quæ saguinis fluxum
patiebatur jā annis
accessit retrò et te-
tigit fimbrā vesti-
menti eius. Mat. 9.
D. Graue est sax-
um, et onerosa a-
rena: sed ira stul-
ti utroq; grauior.
Pro. 3.
A. Extende manū tuam,
et extendit: et restituta
est manus illi. Marc. 3.
B. In die illa - cōgregabo
claudicantē. mich 4. Tunc sa-
liet sicut ceruus claudus. Isa 35
HG excudebat 1604
Translation
RELIEF FOR THE BURDENED
All you who thirst, come to the waters: and you who have no
silver, make haste, buy, and eat: come, buy
without silver and without any exchange, wine and
milk. Why do you weigh out silver, not for bread, and your labor not for
satisfaction? Isaiah 55.
COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO LABOR AND ARE BURDENED AND I WILL REFRESH YOU. Matthew 11.
G. And Jesus stood, and
called them, and said, What will
you that I should do to you? They say
to him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. And Jesus, having compassion on them.
Matthew 20.
H. And touching, he said
to him, I will, be thou made clean.
And when he had said it, immediately
the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
Mark 1.
I. O woman, great
is thy faith: be it done to thee
as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed
from that hour. Matthew 15.
But over them only
was laid a
heavy night, an image of the darkness
which was to come
upon them. They therefore to themselves
were heavier than darkness. Wisdom 17.
K. They bind heavy
and insupportable burdens and lay them on men.
Matthew 23.
L. Bel is broken,
Nabo is destroyed, - your burdens
with heavy weight even
to weariness. Isaiah 46.
Seek the Lord while he may be found: call upon him
while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust
man his thoughts, and return to the Lord,
and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is bounteous
to forgive. Isaiah 55.
F. There is one, and he has
no second, no son, no
brother, and yet his labor
does not cease, nor are
his eyes satisfied with riches.
Ecclesiastes 4.
And behold a talent
of lead was
carried, and behold a
woman sitting in
the middle of the basket. And
he said, This is wickedness. Zechariah 5.
E. A wicked heart
will be weighed down with
sorrows. Ecclesiasticus
chapter 3.
C. And behold a woman
who suffered from an issue of blood
already for years
came behind and touched the hem of his garment. Matthew 9.
D. A stone is heavy,
and sand is burdensome: but the wrath of a fool
is heavier than both. Proverbs 27.
A. Stretch forth thy hand,
and he stretched it forth: and his hand was restored. Mark 3.
B. In that day - I will
gather the lame. Micah 4. Then shall
the lame man leap as a hart. Isaiah 35.
H.G. printed this, 1604.
Connected Texts
Thomas à Kempis
The print visualizes the late medieval and early modern focus on the 'Imitation of Christ' and the relief of the burdened soul as described in Kempis's devotional tradition.
