Thisbe Frightened by the Lion

Thisbe is shown in the foreground running in terror, looking back toward a lion standing near a fountain and a classicized tomb. The scene is set at night under a crescent moon, with a jagged mountain landscape and a distant walled city visible in the background. The engraving features the characteristic swirling clouds and rhythmic line work of late Haarlem Mannerism.

As an illustration of Ovid's Metamorphoses, this work represents the Renaissance recovery of classical myth as a primary vehicle for exploring the transformations of nature. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe was frequently used in the Western esoteric tradition, including alchemical literature, as an allegory for the union of opposites and the symbolic 'blood' that transforms substance.