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Original fileLife of David Scenes
David verdeelt zijn leger in drieën / Dood van Absalom / Terugkeer van David naar Jeruzalem / Joab krijgt het hoofd van Seba aangereikt
About This Work
This engraving sheet contains four quadrants titled Paternal Mercy, The End of Impiety, Unconquered Justice, and The Fall of Rashness. The scenes depict David mobilizing his army, Absalom hanging by his hair while being speared by Joab, David’s triumphal return to Jerusalem, and the delivery of the rebel Sheba's head from the city walls of Abel. The figures are rendered in a late Mannerist style with muscular forms and detailed Roman-style military attire.
Aegidius Sadeler was the principal court engraver to Rudolf II in Prague, where these biblical narratives served as moral and political allegories for imperial power and divine justice. The scenes reflect Neo-Stoic ideals of constancy and the inevitable downfall of folly and impiety, themes central to the intellectual atmosphere of the Rudolfine court.
Inscriptions(Latin)
37 PATERNA CLEMENTIA. 2. Sam. 18. 1. Naturæ mirandus amor, durissima perfert Pondera, et offensas sustinet usq[ue] graves. Quoq[ue] magis tener est, magis atq[ue] urgetur, et arctè Stringitur, hoc adeò rumpitur ille minus. 37 38 IMPIETATIS EXITVS. 2. Sam. 18. 9. Aetas, forma, genus, decor, aplaûs, copia rerum, Plausibus et populi gratia mobilibus. Hæc homines ut magna probat: sed defit honestas, Præcipiti certum est hæc ruitura gradu. 38. 39 IVS INVICTVM. 2. Sam. 19. 15. Invidia infelix varij ac dementia vulgi Sæpius ignauo fracta pudore cadit. Præstantis tamen est animi, nec frangier istis, Nec meritam fractis velle referre vicem. 39 40 TEMERITATIS CASVS. 2. Sam. 20. 16. Et solet in medijs iustum vexare triu[m]phis, Stultitia infesta præcipitiq[ue] manu; Sed spumante malo, necdum feruête furens se Flatibus effundit perdit et ipsa suis. 40
Translation
37 PATERNAL CLEMENCY. 2 Sam. 18. 1. Admirable love of nature bears the hardest Weights, and endures even grave offenses. And the more tender it is, and the more it is pressed, and tightly Constrained, the less it is broken thereby. 37 38 THE END OF IMPIETY. 2 Sam. 18. 9. Age, form, lineage, dignity, applause, abundance of things, And the favor of the people with their fickle cheers. These things prove men to be great: but if honor is lacking, It is certain these will fall at a precipitous pace. 38 39 UNCONQUERED JUSTICE. 2 Sam. 19. 15. The wretched envy and madness of the fickle mob Often falls, broken by cowardly shame. Yet it is the mark of an excellent spirit neither to be broken by these, Nor to wish to repay in kind those who are broken. 39 40 THE FALL OF RASHNESS. 2 Sam. 20. 16. And it is common to vex the righteous in the midst of triumphs, With hostile folly and a precipitous hand; But with the evil foaming, while it is not yet boiling, it pours itself out In a rage, and destroys itself by its own blasts. 40
Connected Texts
Rudolf II
Sadeler was the imperial engraver to Rudolf II; his work reflects the complex moral and intellectual atmosphere of the Prague court.
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Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 107 mm x width 141 mm x height 107 mm x width 140 mm x height 106 mm x width 139 mm x height 108 mm x width 141 mm
religious
Linked Data
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