Adriaen Collaert, after Hans Bol

The Parable of the Rich Fool, from the Scenes from the Life of Christ (Emblemata Evangelica ad XII Signa Coelestia Sive), 1585, Engraving on laid paper, 152 x 207 mm, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Rosenwald Collection, 1964.8.365, Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Interpreting the Present Time

Commentary by David B. Gowler

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Emblemata Evangelica ad XII signa codestica (Evangelical Emblems Adapted to the Twelve Celestial Signs) was designed by Hans Bol, engraved by Adriaen Collaert, and published by Aegidius Sadeler. The twelve seasonal landscapes in the series correspond to the signs of the Zodiac. The Emblemata Evangelica seeks to combat idolatry by opening viewers’ ‘spiritual eyes’ to the mysteries of God’s kingdom, with the title plate noting that God created the stars (of the Zodiac), and that Jesus’s teachings call human beings to reject such ‘idolatrous worship’ and to worship ‘the sole Creator of all things’ (Melion & Clifton 2019: 151).

This landscape is depicted under the sign of Cancer (22 June–22 July). On the right, with three listeners beside him, Jesus points to the rich man who sits under a tree surveying his vast property—the early harvest being collected in the field; a nearby dovecote and beehives; cattle, chickens, and pigs grazing for food; and a barn being constructed.

Below the landscape a (Latin) quatrain—a stanza of four lines—summarizes the message:

The immense power of riches leads mortal men to vice, and they build new granaries for the produce of their fields, heedlessly placing all their safety in earthly might. But the man of low condition obtains the harvest and lays up the [heavenly] storehouse. (Trans. Melion & Clifton 2019: 151)

The print illustrates Jesus’s admonitions in Luke 12. Warnings against greed and the abundance of possessions (v.15), and about the fate of ‘those who store up treasures for themselves’ (v.21). Exhortations not to worry about what one will eat or wear but to strive for God’s kingdom instead (vv.22–23, 29–31), and to ‘sell your possessions and give alms’ (vv.33–34). And, in the context of the Zodiac, condemnations of those who ‘know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky’ but do not know ‘how to interpret the present time’ (v.56).

 

References

Melion, Walter S. and James Clifton. 2019. Through a Glass Darkly: Allegory & Faith in Netherlandish Prints from Lucas van Leyden to Rembrandt (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University)

See full exhibition for Luke 12:13–21

Luke 12:13–21

Revised Standard Version

13 One of the multitude said to him, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; 17and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

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