Fries met de bestraffing van Niobe (plaat 6)

Queen Niobe stands on the right in royal robes and a crown, gesturing toward her people while asserting her divine lineage. To the left, a muscular youth struggles to restrain a rearing horse, symbolizing the unrestrained pride and passion of the queen. The composition is arranged like a classical bas-relief, with figures overlapping in a shallow, densely packed space.

The myth of Niobe, derived from Ovid's Metamorphoses, was a primary Renaissance allegory for hubris and the inevitable divine retribution for spiritual pride. In the context of Haarlem Mannerism and late 16th-century thought, these classical narratives served as moral frameworks for understanding the relationship between human ambition and the cosmic order.